The Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and Austria regularly meet to discuss a whole host of issues of bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation.

Together, Deputy Minister Chmelař and Secretary General Launsky-Tieffenthal reaffirmed the high quality of the Czech-Austrian relations, strengthened by efficient co-ordination of measures to counter the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, the Czech Republic and Austria build on vibrant exchange at the political level, strong trade and investment relationship and a number of successful projects, such as the joint Czech-Austrian history book “Neighbours”. Both countries also contribute to prosperous cooperation in Central Europe, in particular in the so-called Slavkov/Austerlitz format also involving Slovakia.

The two interlocutors went on to underscore the shared interest in the successful integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union. The Deputy Minister also presented to his Austrian counterpart the priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union (July–December 2022) in the area of external action. Together with Director of the Austrian Development Agency Friedrich Stift, Deputy Minister Chmelař and Secretary General Launsky-Tieffenthal highlighted the success of Czech-Austrian-Slovak co-operation on development assistance projects (e.g. in Georgia) and their interest in its continuation.

During his visit to Vienna, Deputy Minister Chmelař also met with Prof. Martin Selmayr, Head of the European Commission Representation in Austria.