The meeting with the Australian Foreign Minister confirms the Czech Republic’s interest in the Indo-Pacific, with it being one of the regional priorities of the forthcoming Czech Presidency of the EU Council. Stability and security in the Indo-Pacific is playing an increasingly crucial role. The visit follows the Ministerial Forum on the Indo-Pacific in Paris, from which the Minister has just returned.

There was a fundamental consensus on a unified approach towards Ukraine. The Head of Australian diplomacy said that "it is important to set up a world order where national sovereignty is respected, human rights protections apply and disputes are resolved through dialogue."

The heads of both diplomatic ministries also agreed that Australia belongs to the circle of partner countries in the field of human rights and, like the Czech Republic, actively and consistently strives to promote human rights in the world. He appreciated that Australia had already adopted the Magnitsky Act, which is also a priority of the Czech Government.

The next topic was the Australia-EU free trade agreement.   "The EU and Australia are like-minded partners in a number of areas, so I think that negotiating this agreement is beneficial for both sides. The agreement can also ensure that market access conditions for European companies are equal to those of competitors from third countries," said the head of Czech diplomacy.

Minister Lipavský thanked Minister Payne for the intensive cooperation in the field of cyber security, which has been taking place on a bilateral level, but also through the Cyber Defence Initiative, which is an informal coordination mechanism.

Another good example of Czech-Australian cooperation is the Extradition Treaty, which was signed on 17 February 2022 after many years of negotiations. The treaty creates the legal conditions for mutual extradition and allows for a more efficient way of conducting criminal prosecutions in both countries.