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Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg visits the US

06.06.2011 / 15:15 | Aktualizováno: 24.01.2014 / 16:47

(This article expired 23.05.2014.)

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg conducted a working visit to the United States from May 27 through June 4, 2011. He was accompanied by a business delegation consisting of representatives of Czech IT and film industries and also by scientists focusing on the field of civil nuclear energy.

The first stop of the trip was in Ennis, Texas, on May 28, 2011 where Minister Schwarzenberg met with Mayor Russell Thomas and Rep. Joe Barton and then participated in and spoke at the city’s 45th Annual National Polka Festival. In Ennis, Minister Schwarzenberg also decorated veterans of World War II with the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defense First Class. On May 29, 2011, Minister Schwarzenberg and his delegation attended a catholic mass and then met with the business community and Czech compatriots of the Forth Worth area. He then transfered to Houston in the afternoon in order to attend a program at the Czech Center Museum Houston. During this evening, Czech nuclear scientists associated under the umbrella of CENEN, Czech Nuclear Education Network, signed a Letter of Intent for Cooperation with their counterparts from Texas A&M University. The Minister also visited the NASA Johnson Space Center and learned about the future of US space exploration.

After transferring to San Francisco, Minister Schwarzenberg attended a seminar on the IT Business and Investment Climate in the Czech Republic on May 31, 2011, and then led the delegation for meetings at the Plug and Play Technology Center. After visiting the Hoover Institution next, Minister Schwarzenberg met with Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Minister then transferred to Los Angeles to meet with representatives of the film industry and local Czech compatriots.

On June 1, 2011, Minister Schwarzenberg met with Antonio Villaraigosa, the Mayor of Los Angeles, and with Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California. The Minister later attended discussions at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and met its management.

On June 2, 2011, upon arriving in Washington, DC, Minister Schwarzenberg met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss the broad range of bilateral as well as global issues. He then visited with the experts of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) led by Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski. Later, the Minister met with Rep. Dan Burton, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia in the US House of Representatives. In the evening, the Ministerl spoke at the 60th Anniversary of Radio Free Europe's
First Broadcasts to Czechoslovakia at SAIS/Johns Hopkins University about the role of free media in free societies. On June 3, 2011, Minister Schwarzenbergl opened a working breakfast on Czech-US economic relations at the US Chamber of Commerce and met its CEO Thomas Donohue.

The Minister then traveled to New York City to partake at a reception at a conference of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences. He arrived back in Prague on June 4, 2011.