Ahead of the informal NATO Ministerial Meeting, Minister Jan Lipavsky met with his US counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Prague to address plans for further deepening their strategic partnership in security, defence, and economic areas. They reiterated their commitment to strengthening NATO.
“This is the last opportunity for NATO foreign ministers to discuss key issues of importance to the Alliance in an unscripted manner ahead of NATO’s 75th-anniversary summit in Washington,” emphasised the Czech Minister during a joint press conference.
Lipavsky and Blinken noted that relations between the Czech Republic and the US are excellent, as confirmed by Prime Minister Petr Fiala‘s meeting with President Joe Biden in the White House last April.
Given Russia’s daily brutal assaults on Ukraine, they emphasised the need to speed up the delivery of substantive material support for the Ukrainian military.
“Europe is prepared for the long run in helping Ukraine – whatever it takes,” confirmed Minister Lipavsky, appreciating the continued United States’ financial and material support to Ukraine.
Both ministers shared their concerns about reports of increasing exports from China for Russia’s military-industrial complex, which is critical for sustaining Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine.
Ministers further discussed strategically important defence cooperation stemming from acquiring F-35 fighter jets. Minister Lipavský expressed great satisfaction with the launch of development and industrial collaboration between several Czech companies and American producer Lockheed Martin.
The ministers also reviewed bilateral cooperation in the cyber and energy domain and joint plans to expand this collaboration further. They also exchanged views about the evolving security situation in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.
[Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken with Czech President Petr Pavel, Credit:Secretary Antony Blinken @SecBlinken]
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken also met with Czech President Petr Pavel and discussed the importance of the U.S.-Czech relationship bilaterally and as NATO Allies for the security of Europe and the United States. Secretary Blinken commended the Czech Republic for its essential efforts in sourcing ammunition for the defence of Ukraine and its strong support for Ukrainian refugees. The Secretary and the President reaffirmed the importance of the upcoming NATO Summit in strengthening collective deterrence and defence.
Countering foreign information manipulation
Minister Lipavský and Secretary Blinken signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Countering Foreign State Information Manipulation at the end of their meeting.
“Information influence activities by foreign states, including disinformation and propaganda, pose a security threat to Czechia and other democracies. Russia has further intensified these interference techniques as part of its broader hybrid campaigns during its unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine,” added the chief of Czech diplomacy.
The memorandum responds to this fact and simultaneously strengthens the close strategic partnership between the Czech Republic and the United States.
“We’ll also be signing this memorandum between us,” said Secretary Blinken during the joint press conference. “It’s the 17th such memorandum of understanding that we’ve signed with partner countries on combating misinformation and disinformation, and this also could not be more critical or more timely because we know that a major front in the competition that we have, the adversarial relationship that we have – notably with Russia – is an information front.”
The document is an essential tool that will enable both countries to effectively address foreign malign influence, which represents a significant threat today.
