The Minister of Foreign Affairs, from the position of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, emphasized support for the International Criminal Court and reminded of its irreplaceable role in the system of international criminal justice. “The atrocities that we witness around the whole world and currently from the ramifications of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine must strengthen our resolve to end impunity for crimes according to international law,” said Minister Lipavský. He continued by highlighting the need for all states to cooperate with the ICC and at the same time called for donations to the Trust Fund for Victims, from which reparations are provided to victims of crimes. At the end of his speech, Minister Lipavský informed about the nomination of Dr Pavel Zeman for the position of judge to the International Criminal Court; voting will take place next year in New York.    

After the speech, the Czech Minister met with senior representatives of the ICC. Minister Lipavský spoke with Prosecutor Karim Khan about supporting an investigation on the situation in Ukraine. Before meeting with Secretary Peter Lewis, the Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Czechia is interested in continuing donations to the Trust Fund for Victims, to which Czechia has been giving financially since 2011.

The program also included a meeting with the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra. The ministers addressed bilateral issues, including the LNG terminal in Eemshaven and the cooperation of Czech and Dutch forensic experts, who should work in Ukraine together with experts from other countries in the course of the next year. They also focused on current EU topics and the priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, such as EU enlargement, Schengen area expansion, and energy. The ministers also addressed current foreign policy issues and agreed upon decisive support for Ukraine.

During the Minister’s meeting with the Director General of the Organization for the Proliferation of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ferdendand Arias, they spoke about the documented cases of chemical weapon use in Syria and the incidents of novichok use to poison the Skripals and Alexei Navalny, which were investigated by the OPCW. “Our priority must be the complete elimination and prevention of any further use of chemical weapons,” said the head of Czech diplomacy. He further emphasized that Czechia is one of the founding members of the OPCW, fully complies with its obligations, and supports the independence of the OPCW's work. An expression of Czechia’s support was, among other things, this year's awarding of the OPCW-The Hague Award (sponsored with the city of The Hague) to the Czech Institute of Population Protection in Bohdanč. African beneficiaries of Czech programs nominated Czechia for the award for the beneficent training of African rescuers in the chemical protection field.