Czech Republic Senate President Milos Vystrcil yesterday said that no one should bow to pressure to become a vassal state, and that efforts should be taken to ensure that Taiwan is not alone in the world.
At his last news conference before returning to the Czech Republic, Vystrcil said it was a great honor to have been presented with the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon by President William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday, and he cherished the warm reception extended to him.
Politicians work to serve the country and the people, and democratic countries should step up interaction with other democratic countries, including Taiwan, he said.
“I am not against collaboration with other countries, but both sides should be equal in status, the deals should be reasonable and mutually beneficial,” he said, adding that politicians must be resilient to pressure.
Commenting on Taiwan-Czech collaborations to combat authoritarianism, Vystrcil said both sides should jointly enhance resilience and security.
The collaboration would deepen mutual market competitiveness through increased technological collaboration, deeper trade and increased civic trust, Vystrcil said, adding that it would also help diversify markets.
The Czech Republic has a strong foundation with Taiwan across all three aspects, and Taiwan has much more to offer the Czech Republic, such as technologies and semiconductors, he said.
Taiwan could also benefit from collaborating with the EU to jointly defend the world order, he added.
Vystrcil declined to comment on whether both slides were collaborating on drones, as it was not his jurisdiction, but said there was potential for collaboration in the industry.
Earlier in the day, the National Development Council announced a pledge to set up a new 50 million euro (US$58 million) fund to encourage more Taiwanese investment in the Czech Republic and vice versa.
The new fund is to be established in addition to the existing US$200 million fund for investment in central and eastern Europe launched by the council in 2022, the council said in a news release.
According to the initial plan, the fund is to be used to invest in Taiwanese companies seeking to enter the Czech market, Czech companies that have entered the Taiwanese market and Taiwan-Czech joint ventures, council Minister Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) said.
The Czech Republic has always been Taiwan’s most trusted partner in central and eastern Europe, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said.
Of the US$200 million central European investment fund and the US$1 billion central Europe financing fund established in 2022, the majority of projects are in the Czech Republic, Kung said.
The Czech Republic is Taiwan’s largest drone partner in central and eastern Europe and its largest export market for Taiwanese drones, Kung added.
Vystrcil also said he was pleased to see that more direct flights between Taiwan and Prague would begin operating in August.
Compared with the three weekly direct flights available during his previous visit to Taipei in 2020, there would soon be daily direct flights between the two destinations, he added.
Responding to criticism of the trip from within his own government, Vystrcil defended the decision.
He said he had asked fellow senators whether they supported strengthening ties with Taiwan before embarking on the trip.
Of the chamber’s 68 senators, 54 supported him and passed a resolution recommending that he visit Taiwan again to enhance bilateral ties.
Although the delegation is relatively small as he and his group were unable to travel to Taipei on a government aircraft, Vystrcil said he believed the trip was a success.
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