Czech Republic–United Kingdom relations

British-Czech relations

Czech Republic
United Kingdom
Diplomatic Mission
Czech Republic Embassy, London British Embassy, Prague
Envoy
Ambassador Michael Žantovský Ambassador Jan Thompson

British–Czech are foreign relations between the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The Czech Republic has an embassy in London and 3 honorary consulates (in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Newtownards). The United Kingdom has an embassy in Prague.

Both states share membership of the European Union and NATO.

History

Although there was the Cold War, the Czech Republic and the UK have good relations. More than 500 Czech pilots were members of the Royal Air Force during the World War II. The Munich Agreement in 1938, signed by British prime minister Neville Chamberlain, is still mentioned sometimes, but it is considered to be an expired chapter of Czech - British relations already.

“ Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonour. They chose dishonour. They will have war. ”

—Winston Churchill on the Munich Agreement

British Foreign Secretary William Hague meeting Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lubomír Zaorálek in London, May 2014.

Trade

Bilateral trade was worth £6.7 billion in 2011.[1]

Migration

The 2001 UK Census recorded 12,220 Czech-born people resident in the UK.[2] With the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union in May 2004, Czechs gained the right to live and work elsewhere in the EU, and substantial numbers moved to the UK for work, although there has been substantial return migration.[3] The Office for National Statistics estimates that, as of October 2010 to September 2011, 24,000 to 40,000 Czech-born people were living in the UK.[4]

State visits

Queen Elizabeth II paid a state visit to the Czech Republic in March 1996, she visited Prague and Brno and was received by President Václav Havel.[5]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Increasing business with the Czech Republic". British Embassy Prague. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  2. ↑ "Country-of-birth database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  3. ↑ Pollard, Naomi; Latorre, Maria; Sriskandarajah, Dhananjayan (April 2008). "Floodgates or turnstiles? Post-EU enlargement migration to (and from) the UK". Institute for Public Policy Research. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  4. ↑ "Estimated population resident in the United Kingdom, by foreign country of birth (Table 1.3)". Office for National Statistics. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "OUTWARD STATE VISITS MADE BY THE QUEEN SINCE 1952". Official web site of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 2008-11-29.

External links