International Principles or Crude Geopolitics? The Incoherence of Czech Foreign Policy Towards Ukraine and Gaza

Abstract

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Czech Republic’s foreign policy has gained an unprecedented salience in domestic politics. While strongly supporting Ukraine based on international law, the Czech government stands unreservedly behind Israel in the conf lict with Gaza and Lebanon, ignoring international humanitarian law. The article argues that this inconsistency undermines the credibility of Czech foreign policy, and its commitment to human rights and international law, and threatens its partners and interests. The framing of the two wars by foreign policy representatives suggests that this discrepancy is driven by civilizational geopolitics. The neglect of universal principles leads to inconsistency with the position of the majority of the European Union and contributes to the weakening of the international order.