Czech – US Relations during Rising Tensions and Conflict in the East

Join ACIR as Miloslav Stašek, Czech ambassador to the US, explores the topic “Czech – US Relations During Rising Tensions and Conflict in the East”.

2018 marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, and in 1993, the United States established diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic after Czechoslovakia was peacefully re-established into two neighboring states. The Czech Republic is a member of the European Union and NATO, and both the US and the Czech governments have maintained steadfast cooperation in pursuing human rights, economic, and security goals that promote core values for both nations.

The US and the Czech Republic have bi-lateral trade and investment treaties, and while the US is the major exporter to the Czech Republic outside the European Union, the Czech Republic is mutually engaged in exports of wines, sporting goods, and even startups in Silicon Valley.

US-Czech relations grow while Czech-Russian relations have dramatically fallen with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reminiscent of Russian tanks in then Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Czech government has since absorbed Ukrainian refugees and sent military equipment to Ukraine while looking to secure its nation-state, mindful that only neighboring Slovakia separates it from western Ukraine.