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Germany and Czechia: Bilateral relations
Relations between Germany and Czechia are very close. Following Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s visit in 2021, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz travelled to Czechia on 29 August 2022, giving his “Prague speech” on the EU at the Charles University. In July 2022, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock travelled to Czechia for her first visit since taking office and signed the agreement for continuing the bilateral programme of action on this occasion. In September 2023, Czechia was the official guest country at the Federal President’s traditional citizens’ festival at Schloss Bellevue in Berlin.
The Treaty on Good Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation of 27 February 1992, together with the German-Czech Declaration on Mutual Relations and their Future Development of 21 January 1997, is one of the most important cornerstones of German-Czech relations. The essence of the Declaration is the undertaking by both sides to advance German‑Czech relations in a spirit of good neighbourliness and to disencumber them from political and legal issues stemming from the past.
Czechia and Germany work together intensively on European Neighbourhood Policy, on the Western Balkans and on supporting Ukraine since the start of the Russian war of aggression. Eleven working groups made up of German and Czech ministry staff meet as part of the countries’ strategic dialogue. Cross-border cooperation with the Free State of Bavaria and the Free State of Saxony has been stepped up in recent years.
Germany is Czechia’s most important trading partner, and the two economies are closely interconnected, particularly in the automotive sector. Around 4000 German companies or companies with German shareholdings have established themselves in Czechia.
There is diverse cultural exchange at all levels. All political foundations and organisations involved in cultural mediation and educational cooperation (the Goethe-Institut, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Central Agency for Schools Abroad (ZfA) and the DSP) are represented in Czechia. The German-Czech Future Fund and the German-Czech Dialogue Forum are key stakeholders in the area of civil society cooperation.