Study Visit of Polish Parliamentary Assistants to Prague (24-27 November 2024)

13/12/2024
As part of the long-running CIS Academy for parliamentary assistants , a study visit for assistants to members of the Seim was held from 24 to 27 November 2024 to enhance their expertise and competences in the field of foreign and security policy.This visit to Prague was a direct follow-up to the first trip of the Czech group to Warsaw in May 2024. The aim of the Prague visit was to further strengthen Czech-Polish cooperation at the level of parliamentary assistants across the political spectrum and to enable the sharing of experience and knowledge in key areas such as foreign policy, strategic communication and legislative processes. 

On Monday, November 25, the Polish group had a briefing with Eva Húsková, Director of the Department of Communication on European Affairs at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, which focused on communication on European affairs and the attitudes of Czechs towards the EU. Subsequently, the Ministerstvu průmyslu a obchodu diskutovalo o obnově Ukrajiny, česko-polské obchodní spolupráci, vodíkové strategii či o potenciálu malých jaderných reaktorů. Program prvního dne dále zahrnoval setkání na pražském magistrátu se Zuzanou Hockovou, vedoucí oddělení zahraničních vztahů Magistrátu hl. m. Prahy, věnovaný mezinárodním vztahům města.

A key part of Tuesday's programme was visit to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic with a tour and discussion about the legislation and the work of Czech assistants. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a meeting with David Stulík, Special Envoy for the Eastern Partnership and Nikola Nekvindová, Head of the Strategic Communication Department, whose topic was strategic communication in the context of the war in Ukraine and its further development. 

On Wednesday, the programme concluded with workshops on the use of data in public administration in the Czech Republic with the organisation Czech Priorities and discussion on the perspectives of Czech-Polish cooperation with Vít Dostál, Chairman of the Czech-Polish Forum Program Board, who also summarized the visit and the participants' observations. 

This visit represented a unique opportunity to exchange experiences, strengthen mutual contacts and further develop cooperation between Czech and Polish parliamentary assistants and democratic political parties.

Both the study trip to Warsaw and to Prague were supported by the Czech-Polish Forum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The visit to Prague was supported by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. The project partner is the Warsaw Institute.

The below report synthesizes the outcomes of bilateral discussions held during meetings between Czech and Polish parliamentary assistants.