The seriousness and importance of the first official visit of the Czech President Milos Zeman to Ukraine is proven by many factors. One of them is his delegation. The Czech leader was accompanied by nearly 80 Czech entrepreneurs. The delegation also included the Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic Vlastimil Picek, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Jiri Schneider, and the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexandra Rudysarova.
Zeman’s visit to Ukraine lasted three days. On the first day he and the head of the Kyiv Municipal State Administration Oleksandr Popov opened the exhibit “Kyiv was liberated under the Czech flag” and met the Czechs living in Ukraine. On October 21 the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Milos Zeman signed several agreements on the termination of the double taxation, readmission, keeping military graves, and certifying defensive products. Zeman also met the Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and the Speaker of the Parliament Volodymyr Rybak.
“Our negotiations with the President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman confirmed our mutual aspiration to comprehensively develop our friendly relations and mutually profitable cooperation between Ukraine and the Czech Republic,” Viktor Yanukovych remarked during the press conference after the negotiations had been finished. According to Yanukovych, the cooperation between the Czech Republic and Ukraine has reached a new level, whose evidence is Zeman’s visit.
“We reached the agreement to put common efforts to activate the bilateral trade and investment cooperation that have a significant unused potential,” Yanukovych added. At the same time the Ukrainian leader also emphasized the importance of work in order to satisfy the needs of the Ukrainian community in the Czech Republic and the Czechs living in Ukraine. Yanukovych also expressed his certainty that the new agreements between Kyiv and Prague “will give an essential new impulse” to the development of the bilateral relations.
In his turn Zeman stressed on the interest in cooperation of both the Czech and Ukrainian entrepreneurs: “This fact is the evidence of great interest of the Ukrainian and Czech entrepreneurs in such fields as machine building, energy, transport, and post services,” as cited by the press service of the Ukrainian president. As a result of the talks the presidents signed a Common Declaration and a range of documents, in particular:
– the Intergovernmental Agreement on Military Graves;
– the Agreement between the Ukrainian and Czech Ministries of Defense on the mutual quality control of defensive products during the military-technical cooperation;
– the Protocol to the Intergovernmental Convention on avoiding the double taxation and preventing income and property tax evasion;
– the intergovernmental Implementation Protocol to the Agreement between Ukraine and the European Community on the readmission.
During their private meeting the presidents also touched upon the issue concerning the former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. According to the Czech president, it is highly important. “I think that making this question public untimely would be harmful rather than useful. However, I am almost 100 percent sure that I would give from 0 to 100 percent,” Milos Zeman said.
The European integration of Ukraine became a key question during Zeman’s visit as there is one month left before the Summit of the Eastern Partnership in Vilnius. “In Ukraine we appreciate the fact that the Czech Republic is our reliable partner in the process of the European integration,” Yanukovych said. By the way, he called Zeman’s visit “symbolic” before the summit on which “we are planning to sign the Association Agreement.”
In his turn Zeman emphasized that “the Czech Republic not only supports Ukraine’s aspiration to sign the Association Agreement with the EU, but also all the directions of Ukraine’s foreign policy, for example, its willing to become a member of the UN Security Council.” Besides Zeman also announced that the Czech Republic is planning to increase the number of consuls general in Ukraine and is willing to liberalize the visa regime with Ukraine as it will make the cooperation between the two countries more active.
The Day asked Mykhailo KIRSENKO, Doctor in History, professor to comment on Zeman’s visit to Ukraine.
“Zeman’s visit is a perfect opportunity for the Ukrainian government to save the face and stand on their positions without losing their prestige. I mean, to achieve a real success and show at the same time that they do not make any important concessions and just stick to the norms of communication with the EU. Politics is the art of compromises and possibilities, so the dialog implies the agreement of both parties and the respect of mutual rules. The Czechs will help contact Germany and Brussels.
“Besides, his visit proves that not only Poland lobbies Ukraine and that Ukraine is interesting for other countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the context of efforts of the EU and the European Council. Secondly, Czechs’ interest shows that the European leaders are ready to talk to the Ukrainian president on a parity basis.
“Thirdly, the Europeans remain unanimous in promoting their conditions and requirements to Ukraine before signing the Association Agreement. Fourthly, the Czechs are very pragmatic. If the Czech president comes to Ukraine it means he believes in Ukraine’s prospects. Moreover, it is also related to their intention to buy real estate in a prestigious district of Kyiv. I am speaking about the house where the head of Czechoslovak People’s Council and the future first president of Czechoslovakia Tomas Garrigue Masaryk temporarily stayed in 1917-18. He was there because the Czechoslovak army and legions that were the basis of the national armed forces and republic itself were in Kyiv. By the way, it is another evidence of Czechs’ serious attitude to Ukraine: they believe in our future and it should not be neglected, it is very important, we have to develop and support it. The Ukrainians have good reputation in the Czech Republic. In Western Europe, as compared to other foreign workers, they have a better image.
“The Czechs do not have sentiments. They stress on the bilateral traditions from the beginning of Czechoslovakia and Ukraine in 1917-18. We should also remember that Zeman represents the whole European Union at the highest level. The Czech Republic is the most developed country of the Central-Eastern Europe, which is also a pass to the German money. It is equally important that Zeman’s visit does not cancel Europe’s requirements; Europe is not playing games with us, it makes serious demands! If we are clever, we should take it into account and make advances. It does not mean that we will lose everything if we do not sign the Association Agreement. In this case the process is going to be slower, longer, more complicated, and will cost more for Ukraine and, in particular, for Yanukovych.”
