Inaugural Political Consultations Mark 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Philippines and Czech Republic

Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro (middle of right side; in black) and co-chair Director General Kateřina Sequensová of the Czech  Ministry of Foreign Affairs (middle of left side; in maroon) lead the Inaugural Philippines-Czech Republic political consultations.

PRAGUE 20 November 2023 — The Inaugural Political Consultations between the Philippines and the Czech Republic were held on 14 November 2023 at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Czernin Palace in Prague.

The Philippine delegation was led by Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs Ma. Theresa Lazaro of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, while the Czech Delegation was led by Director General for Non-European Countries Kateřina Sequensová of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The comprehensive political consultations covered ongoing and future aspects of Philippine-Czech Republic Bilateral Relations, particularly this year’s 50th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, the exchange of high-level visits, and cooperation in the areas of defense, trade and investment, agriculture, cybersecurity, aerospace, renewable energy, science and innovation, university-to-university linkages, labor migration, and climate change and the environment. Cooperation within ASEAN, the United Nations and other international fora were also discussed, as well as the ongoing concerns on the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea, and the security situation in Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.

Both sides recognized that the friendship and engagements between the Philippines and the Czech Republic run deep, going back centuries. 

Today, the Czech Republic is part of the Filipino commuter’s daily travel in Manila as the trams used on the Manila MRT Line 3 are Czech made. 

There are a number of Filipino students who are pursuing masteral and doctoral degrees in Charles University, the oldest university in central Europe. Businesses in the Czech Republic are increasingly seeking and employing Filipino skilled workers for various industrial and service sectors.

The Political Consultations built upon the visits to Manila of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in April 2023 and of Czech Deputy Speaker Jan Skopeček in February 2023, as well as the meeting between Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský at the margins of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York last September.

The Philippine-Czech relationship is on an upswing, held firmly by the importance to both countries of the value of a rules-based international order, and on maintaining the Indo-Pacific region to be open, free and rules-based. END

(L-R), Mr. Jiří Brodský, Head of the South and Southeast Asia unit;  Mr. David Jarkulisch, PH Desk Officer; Ms. Hana Flanderova, Director for Visas; Mr. Marek Libricky, Director for Asia-Pacific; Hon. Kateřina Sequensová, Director General for Non-European Countries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic; Hon. Ma. Theresa Lazar, DFA Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs; H.E. Eduardo Martin R. Meñez, Philippine Ambassador to the Czech Republic; Assistant Secretary Maria Elena Algabre of DFA-Office of European Affairs (OEA); Ms. Indhira C. Banares, Minister and Consul General of the Philippine Embassy in Prague; and Assistant Director Elaine Laruan-Hernandez of DFA-OEA