Pavel Flies to UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Takes a Separate Flight

Czech President Petr Pavel has departed for New York to address the United Nations General Assembly and back the country's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council — its first in forty years. The general debate opens on Tuesday, with Pavel due to deliver the Czech delegation's national address on Wednesday.

According to the president, the trip will also serve as a platform for bilateral meetings with other world leaders. "This will be a chance to connect with countries we might not otherwise cross paths with," Pavel said at a briefing before departing from Prague's Kbely airfield.

In his UN address, the president plans to touch on the need to adapt the organization to today's international realities, the responsibility of leading world powers to uphold international law, and the risks posed by emerging technologies. Besides his main speech and bilateral talks, Pavel will pay tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, marking the tragedy's 25th anniversary this year. Later in the week, the US visit will wrap up with a trip to Nebraska, where the president will visit a university and meet with members of the Czech diaspora.

Macinka Flies Separately

Before departure, Pavel praised his cooperation with the Foreign Ministry. "I want to highlight how smoothly we worked with the Foreign Ministry in planning this UN trip," he said, noting that on Friday he met Foreign Minister Petr Macinka for the first time in a long while, at a reception for Jordan's King Abdullah II at Prague Castle.

Nevertheless, the minister is traveling to New York on his own, on a commercial flight, even though part of his team is flying with the president, who heads the Czech delegation. Both are leaving Prague on Sunday.

According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Adam Csörgő, Macinka has a different schedule toward the end of the trip: his working program in New York runs through Friday, whereas the president will fly on to Nebraska aboard a government special flight on Wednesday. "It made sense not to tie the minister's trip to the president's schedule," the spokesman explained.

This marks the first joint foreign trip by the president and foreign minister since July's NATO summit in Turkey, which strained relations between the government and the president. Back then, too, the two officials flew separately, with the delegation led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, and the question of who should head it remained a point of contention for months. Sources close to the president say cooperation with the Foreign Ministry ahead of the UN General Assembly has noticeably improved compared to the situation before the NATO summit.

Sources close to the president do not rule out that, should the minister wish, a joint interview could take place in New York — the two officials may well cross paths, for instance at the opening of the general debate, where delegations traditionally sit side by side. Still, based on both delegations' schedules, Pavel and Macinka are likely to just miss each other, even though they'll be staying at the same hotel.

During the US visit, Minister Macinka will hold around 20 bilateral meetings with counterparts from other countries, focusing primarily on partners from African nations. Meetings are also planned with foreign ministers from the Middle East, Oceania, and Latin America. Besides the opening of the general debate, the minister will take part in an informal meeting of the EU Council, talks between the Visegrád Four foreign ministers and India, a meeting of EU ministers with Latin American and Caribbean counterparts, and a working breakfast of the "Friends of the Western Balkans" group.

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Source: seznamzpravy.cz