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Czech Politics


The President of the Czech Republic is elected directly by the voters a five-year term, with no more than two consecutive terms. The president is a formal head of state with limited specific powers, most importantly to return bills to the parliament, nominate constitutional court judges for the Senate's approval and dissolve the parliament under certain special and unusual circumstances. He also appoints the prime minister, as well the other members of the cabinet on a proposal by the prime minister.




From Wikipedia:


The President of the Czech Republic is Miloš Zeman, born 28 September 1944.  He was elected as the third President of the Czech Republic in early 2013. He is the first directly elected president in Czech history.  As formal head of state, the president is granted specific powers such as the right to nominate Constitutional Court judges, dissolve parliament under certain conditions, and enact a veto on legislation. Presidents had been elected by the parliament for 5-year terms, but parliament passed an amendment to the constitution in 2012 that changed the method of presidential election to direct popular vote beginning in 2013. The presidential term remains 5 years with a limit of two consecutive terms.



Parliamentary elections were held in May 2010, and a center-right coalition government was formed of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the formerly local Prague party Public Affairs (VV), and the newly formed TOP 09. Former Labor Minister Petr Nečas of ODS became Prime Minister.

The Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004, and held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January 1 to June 30, 2009.

Principal Government Officials

President-- Miloš Zeman

Prime Minister--Andrej Babiš

Foreign Minister--Tomáš Petříček

Defense Minister--Lubomir Metnar

Czech Ambassador to Washington--Hynek Kmoníček

The Embassy of the Czech Republic is located at 3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-274-9101).







After World War II, and the return of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, normal relations continued until 1948, when the communists seized power. Relations cooled rapidly. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 further complicated U.S.-Czechoslovak relations. The United States referred the matter to the UN Security Council as a violation of the UN Charter, but no action was taken against the Soviets.

Following the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989, bilateral relations improved immensely. Dissidents once sustained by U.S. encouragement and human rights policies reached high levels in the government. In 1990, President Havel, in his first official visit as head of Czechoslovakia, addressed the U.S. Congress and was interrupted 21 times by standing ovations. On the first anniversary of the revolution, President George H.W. Bush pledged U.S. support in building a democratic Czechoslovakia in front of an enthusiastic crowd on Prague's Wenceslas Square.


