POLITICAL RELATIONS

The official relations between Czechoslovakia and New Zealand were first established in 1924 when the Office of the Honorary Consul was launched in Wellington.

In 1954 the Czechoslovak Consulate-General was opened in Wellington. On 5 September 1959 an appointment of Ambassadors to both countries took place and on 11 August 1976 their status was elevated to the one of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. In the following period the Ambassador of Czechoslovakia was accredited to the New Zealand Government from Jakarta.

Since 9 February 1988 the Ambassador has been accredited from Canberra, Australia.

On 1 January 1993 New Zealand recognized the Czech Republic and on the same day the two countries established diplomatic relations.

The Embassy of the Czechoslovak Federative Republic in Wellington was closed on 31 December 1992 due to financial reasons.

The New Zealand Ambassador for the Czech Republic is accredited from Berlin ( New Zealand Embassy, Berlin).

On 15 March 1994 the New Zealand Honorary Consulate was opened in Prague (address: Dykova 19, 110 00 Praha 1, tel. 222514672, fax 224254640, e-mail egermayer@nzconsul.cz).

In July 2001 the Czech Honorary Consul in Auckland was inaugurated. The present address of his office is: Level 3, BMW Mini Centre, 11-15 Great South Road, cnr Margot Street, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand; postal address: P.O.Box 7448, Wellesly Street, Auckland, NZ, Tel. +649/5228735, Fax + 649 5228734, E-mail auckland@honorary.mzv.cz.

The Czech Honorary Consulate in Wellington has been temporarily closed.

BILATERAL VISITS

The most significant Czech official visit to New Zealand was that of President Václav Havel in March 1995. Mr Ivan Kočárník, Minister for Finance, and Mr Josef Tošovský, Governor of the Czech National Bank, were among members of his delegation. The Agreement on Prevention of Double Taxation was signed during the visit.

- November 1999 - delegation of the Committee for Economy, Agriculture and Transport of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic visited New Zealand

- September 2000 - Michael Cullen, NZ Minister of Finance, visited Prague on the occassion of the IMF and World Bank conference. During his visit he met Mr Jan Kavan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs

- July 2001 - Martin Palouš, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited NZ and opened the Honorary Consulate on the Czech Republic in Auckland

- May 2002 - Phil Goff, NZ Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, visited the Czech Republic. He was received by President Václav Havel and had negotiations with his Czech counterparts.

- May 2003 - Jim Sutton, NZ Minister of Agriculture and Trade Negotiations, visited the Czech Republic

- October 2003 - Trevor Mallard, NZ Minister of Education, visited the Czech Republic

- February 2004 - Cyril Svoboda, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited New Zealand to conduct meetings and negotiations with Dame Silvia Cartwright, Governor General of New Zealand, Prime Minister Helen Clarke and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Phil Goff

- October 2004 - Dame Silvia Cartwright, Governor General, headed the most senior New Zealand delegation to the Czech Republic ever. She met President Václav Klaus and Speakers of both Houses of the Czech Parliament during her 3 day stay. The Agreement on Working Holiday Scheme was signed during her visit.

- Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal, Consular and Economic Affairs, Pavel Svoboda, during a visit to New Zealand on 22-26 October 2005 met with Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Murdoch and with representatives of Ministry of Social Development and New Zealand Immigration Service. During his stay he also had the opportunity to meet with members of the Czech Community in Christchurch and Wellington and with Mr Jan Koppan who is a candidate for the position of Czech Honorary Consul in Wellington.

- On the 12-15 May 2006 a delegation from the Czech Senate Committee of Legal and Constitutional Affairs led by their Chairperson Jaroslav Kubera, visited New Zealand. The Czech Senators held discussions with their counterparts from the New Zealand Parliament, with the Minister of Revenue, Peter Dunne and with representatives from many other institutions (New Zealand Electoral Commission, Victoria University in Wellington, representatives of towns and regions). On several occasions they also met with Czech community members and presented commemorative medals from the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic to Czech Veterans who are currently residing in New Zealand - Mr František Hanzal, Mr Jiří Pressburg and Mr Ladislav Světlík.