Jan Kohout Jan Kohout Jan Kohout (born 29 March 1961) is a Czech diplomat and politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic in caretaker governments of Jan Fischer and Jiří Rusnok. Between 1986–1989 he had been a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia; since 1995 is a member of the Social Democratic Party but before accepting the office of Foreign Minister he suspended party membership. After the Velvet revolution, he entered the Czechoslovak and later Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He served as Ambassador to the EU in Brussels as well as Deputy Foreign Minister. After Prime
Acting prime minister is on vacation, or is in ill health. In the early 20th century, when travel by ship was still the norm, it was not uncommon for there to be an acting Prime Minister for months on end. The deputy Prime Minister is usually designated as the acting Prime Minister, although another senior member of the government may fill the role if both the Prime Minister and deputy Prime Minister are unavailable. An acting Prime Minister is required quite frequently – for instance, between 3 December 2007 and 23 February 2009 (during Kevin Rudd's first term), Julia Gillard acted as Prime