The Czech Republic takes over the Presidency of the European Union
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on July 1 in Litomysl, Czech Republic.
© AP - David Tanecek
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
After France, the Czech Republic has just taken over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second time in its history.
Prague has placed Ukraine at the center of its priorities for the next six months.
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With our correspondent in Prague,
Alexis Rosenzweig
The Czech Republic's first European presidency in 2009 had left a bitter taste, with the fall of the government in the middle of the semester.
Today, the context is very different, with a war on European soil and a worrying economic situation.
"
The Czech Republic can bring a Central European perspective to the Ukrainian file, given our historical heritage, our geographical position
," said Eliska Tomalova, who heads the department of European studies at Charles University in Prague.
There has been a strong mobilization, not only political but also civic of the Czechs, it is a subject that unites the Czech political sphere and society, so it will be very important during this presidency.
»
Marshall Plan for Ukraine
The Czech prime minister was one of the first three foreign leaders to visit kyiv in March after the Russian invasion.
Petr Fiala announced that he wanted to organize a summit in Prague on the reconstruction of the attacked country with the launch of what he compared to "a Marshall plan" for Ukraine.
Energy security and the diversification of supply will also be one of the major themes of this presidency for this Central European country of just over 10 million inhabitants, which is one of the most dependent on gas and oil. Russians.
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