TOP INTERVIEWS Interview with  H.E. CYRIL SVOBODA Minister of Foreign Affairs Prague, 26th September 2002 You are part of a new government. What are the main guidelines for your country's foreign policy in the near future? Our foreign policy is based on the principle of continuity and our basic goals have not changed: EU enlargement, our NATO partnership and of course the NATO summit, the partnerships with our neighbouring countries, ensuring good relations with the Czech minorities living abroad and of course the economic dimension of our foreign policy. What has been improved is our relation with some neighbouring countries. We now have a much better relation with Austria although we still have some sensitive points between us. We are now capable of discussing all these issues without any emotions, but I am stressing that these topics are only for discussion and not for negotiations. Continuity is the basic principle and there is one new phenomenon: there is now full harmony between all the key politicians regarding our foreign policy. By this I mean that there is full harmony between the President of the Republic Václav Havel, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Upper House, the Speaker of the Lower House and myself. This was not always the case in the past when there were some conflicts between politicians. This is important, as foreign policy should not be a field for conflicts and competition between political parties. It is in our national interest to have only one foreign policy. When developing better relationships with neighbouring countries, are you mainly looking at EU countries such as Austria or Germany? Or are you also looking at Central European countries? We have excellent relations with Slovakia and Poland. We are very interested in having good relations with Slovakia because we want Slovakia to be in the same Euro-Atlantic area where we are and wish to be, meaning NATO and the EU. It is in the national interest of the Czech Republic to support Slovakia. New elements are in the Czech-Austrian relations. Also, I believe that the good Czech-German relations will not change after the German elections because the foreign policy of both countries is based on international treaties and the Czech-German declaration. Recently, Prague suffered from very severe floods and fortunately the water did not reach Loretanske Namesti. How much support did you receive from the international community and how good was this support? We have received aid from abroad, including France, and are very grateful for this. International aid is important first of all from the symbolic and political point of view because this is the proof that we belong to the family of nations, who do understand what solidarity means. The water has washed out borders between countries. Even countries, which also suffered such as Germany and Austria, managed to give us some aid. Of course, vice versa, we helped Austria and Germany. This is especially important for the EU enlargement because it is now obvious to everybody that if we are in the EU, the financial situation will be better. It is a good motivation for becoming a member. The valid system of rules and regulations has been made for normal processes and situations, but in this case there was something extra. This is the reason why we are fully backing Wolfgang Schuessel's idea to create a disaster relief fund. This is something extra for extra situations and we expect some help from this disaster relief fund. This will also be very important in the pre-referendum period in the Czech Republic. If we are given some money from this fund, it will be a signal that we are sharing the money, which is dedicated to EU member states only. It is primarily up to the Czech Republic, the Czech politicians and the economy to deal with the flood damages from the economic point of view, but international aid is very important from the political point of view. Very soon the upcoming NATO summit will be held in Prague and will probably be one of the key events here What is your involvement with the organization and what are your expectations for this summit? This summit is important because it will center on new relations, new members and new challenges. These challenges for NATO are the conflict with terrorists, the security of the world and the new role which will be played by NATO after its expansion. The new relations, meaning the relations of the organization with Russia and the Ukraine are a new phenomenon and we see it as the most important part of the enlargement. We are backing a robust enlargement and are supporting Slovakia. The question of how many countries we will support will be answered during the summit. The fact that the summit is organized in Prague is also very important for us because it is the first time since the collapse of the totalitarian regime that such a summit is held in a former Soviet block state at the end of Vaclav Havel's political carrier. Furthermore, the current situation of the world is not very good and we have to take into consideration the recent developments in Iraq, the Balkans and Afghanistan. Finally, just after the floods we are capable of demonstrating that the Czech Republic is very strong and capable of solving problems. This is a safe country and it welcomes people from abroad. We will organize everything in a proper manner from the technical point of view in Prague, even if we still face some problems caused by the floods, such as the damaged underground and traffic problems. Considering these global developments, what do you expect this summit to change? Before the collapse of the totalitarian regime NATO was the so-called aggressive pact oriented against the Soviet System and the Warsaw Pact, and this very broad enlargement brings up a question about the new role of NATO in today's world. This is also important for my country as although we are a NATO member state, some people are still deeply convinced that NATO is an aggressive military organization. However, NATO will have to be an instrument of democracy and the organization will have to be in conflict with all those in conflict with the fundamental rights, values and principles of our society. This is an important question for the future of NATO. We want to incorporate all the member states on the same level and give all the member states the same rights, possibilities and position. It is NATO's new challenge to accept all the new members on the same level and to make itself an instrument in the hands of the democrats. The Czech Republic is very close to joining the European Union. How do you view the current status of the negotiations? We are in the final stage of negotiations, just knocking on the EU doors. We have currently almost concluded the negotiations on the agricultural chapter, which were very difficult. What we want are conditions of a fair competition for the Czech Republic, which will be difficult considering the direct payments, the financial framework which was accepted in Berlin and all other issues. The cabinet defined yesterday our position during the final negotiations and this is the mandate of our negotiating team. This negotiation will be the end of the story because the financial problems will be discussed after the agricultural chapter has been closed. The current problem does not stem from the Czech Republic, but from Poland. We understand that there will be a united EU position and we therefore will have to unify our position with all our neighbouring countries, such as Poland and Slovakia. I have invited the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs to Prague next week to harmonize our positions. This is also very important for the atmosphere in the Czech Republic. From a domestic point of view, it is very important to prepare the campaign both externally and internally: externally our ambassadors are to work towards a better atmosphere in EU member states, such as France; internally we have to initiate a campaign to inform the people of all the consequences of the membership. Our strategy is based on the principle that everyone has to be informed: even if he or she is going to say no, he or she has to be informed. Are the Czech people currently informed? I believe that we have a good chance to receive a positive answer at the referendum. However, the campaign is only starting and some problems could arise. Some private entities are against the EU membership, as for example some private TV stations, which want to keep on broadcasting American series and films because it is cheaper. We will see, but we are deeply convinced that we will receive a positive answer. Looking more directly at France, as we write this for a French magazine, could you rate the level of cooperation with France, and also with the French government? We have frequent and excellent relations with France and welcome all the French investors. I believe for example that Renault will be successful with its plant in Kolín. France also plays a very important role in the EU enlargement process. I also believe that the new government in France is totally devoted to the enlargement process and that we will have good relations. I can't find any negative issue in the Franco-Czech relations. From a personal point of view, what do you consider as your biggest challenge as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the near future? Of course, the challenge number one for this government is to succeed in the EU accession process and even the coalition parties are totally unified on this issue. This report will be read by potential investors, people who are looking for new opportunities in the Czech Republic. What would be your final message to them? We are working towards improving the legal environment and we are going to be as open as possible. Note: WINNE cannot be held responsible for the content of unedited transcriptions.