A graduate of the Prague Charles University Faculty of Arts, Petr Vágner researched and published on the history of science at the Academy of Sciences in Prague before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after 1989. In the course of his diplomatic career, he worked at the Czech Embassies in Moscow and Kiev; in 2014-2018, he served as the Deputy Head of Mission of the Czech Republic in the Republic of Azerbaijan. For several months in 2018, he temporarily headed the Czech Embassy in Baku as Chargé d'affaires a.i.

During Petr's tenure in Baku, the Czech Embassy took over the role of the International Visegrád Fund (IVF) Contact Embassy in Azerbaijan. That was only logical given his previous experience as the IVF Executive Director in 2009-12. As the head of the Political Section of the Embassy in Baku, Petr did his best to establish and deepen the strategic partnership – and, more importantly, friendship – between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Azerbaijan. His interest in the history of Czech-Azerbaijani relations, and particularly in the role of Azerbaijani Red Army soldiers in liberating our country from fascism, was deep and sincere. A book on this topic edited by Petr should see the light of day later this year. Unfortunately, he will not be around this time.

We thank all the numerous Azerbaijanis who privately expressed their condolences on the passing of our colleague.