Better protection of the external border, faster return policy and more funds for the Czech Republic. Petr Fiala succeeded at the European Council

On 29 and 30 June 2023, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala attended a meeting of the European Council. This time the main topics included migration, Ukraine, external relations and defence, as well as the EU’s strategic communication with China.

The key topic of the summit was migration. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the European Council had recognised the efforts of the Czech Republic and other countries hosting large numbers of Ukrainian refugees. The conclusions on the part on migration were adopted in the form of a declaration by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, due to the blocking of two Member States. “Upon my proposal, the majority of the European Council members confirmed that the Czech Republic and other countries should receive additional financial support from the EU budget,” said Fiala.

“It is clearly evident that the constructive approach with which our government defends Czech interests in the EU is bearing fruit,”said the Prime Minister after the summit. “We are managing to build on last year's successful Presidency. We have radically changed the previously negative image of the Czech Republic in Europe. We are active, we come up with specific proposals, and we succeed in implementing them.“

EU leaders agreed on the need to establish strong partnerships with selected third countries that are willing to cooperate in stopping irregular migration. Together with Denmark and Austria, the Czech Republic has pushed for the European Commission to develop new ways of cooperation with partner states, such as implementing part of the asylum procedure in a third country or the obligation to return irregular migrants to transit countries.

EU leaders also reiterated their strong condemnation of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. The EU stands ready to provide military support to Ukraine for as long as it is needed. The European Council stressed the need to work with other partners to ensure stable, predictable and sustainable financial support for Ukraine in the coming years. EU leaders also agreed that it is important that Russia be held fully responsible for its military campaign against Ukraine and supported the establishment of a war crimes tribunal. 

The European Council commends Ukraine's determination to meet the required conditions in the EU accession process and the considerable efforts it is making in this regard. It encourages Ukraine to continue implementing reforms. 

“In this situation it is crucial that we have sent a clear message to our Ukrainian partners. I personally admire Ukraine for this progress in extremely difficult conditions and I believe in the launch of accession negotiations with the EU by the end of this year,” said Prime Minister Fiala. At the same time, the EU will continue to support the Republic of Moldova in addressing the challenges it faces due to Russian aggression in Ukraine and on its path to the EU. 

In the area of security and defence, the leaders agreed on the need to further strengthen the technological and industrial base of European defence and make it more innovative, competitive and resilient.  The European Council welcomes the work on the EU’s cyber defence policy and the review of the set of EU cyber diplomacy tools to strengthen the ability to prevent, deter and respond to cyber attacks. 

The European Council also discussed relations with China. The leaders agreed that, despite their different political and economic systems, the EU and China have a common interest in building a constructive and stable relationship that is anchored in respect for an international order based on the rules of balanced engagement and reciprocity. The EU and China remain important trading and economic partners.

“China represents a major challenge for Europe. We want to trade with it, but we must avoid an unhealthy dependence, as the period of covid clearly showed us,” said the Czech Prime Minister. 

The European Council called on China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to urge Russia to stop its offensive war and to withdraw its troops from Ukraine immediately, completely and unconditionally. At the same time, the EU is concerned about rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and opposes unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. The European Council also welcomes the resumption of the human rights dialogue. 

According to Prime Minister Fiala, the leaders also adopted major economic conclusions on Friday. Importantly for the Czech Republic, they stress the key role of the EU internal market, which is of great importance for Czech companies.

“Today I also supported the call on the European Commission to come forward with a pan-European solution for European self-sufficiency in critically important medicines. The situation with shortages of certain medicines must not be repeated. It is therefore necessary to support production in Europe and ensure stable supply chains,” concluded Prime Minister Fiala.