Political relations
Bilateral relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Czech Republic are based on a traditional friendship, characterised by developed cooperation in various fields, as well as intensive and continuous political dialogue at all levels.
The President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman paid the official visit to the Republic of Serbia from 29 to 30 January 2023. The President of the Republic of Serbia A. Vučić, at the invitation of the president of Czech Republic M. Zeman, paid the official visit to the Czech Republic from 17 to 19 May 2021. The President of the Republic of Serbia A. Vučić had a bilateral meeting with the president of the Czech Republic M. Zeman on the sidelines of the first summit of the European Political Community in Prague on 6 October 2022. The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs I. Dačić had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic J. Lipavski on the sidelines of the OSCE ministerial meeting in Lodz (Poland), on 1 December 2022. The then Minister of Foreign Affairs N. Selaković had a short meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic J. Lipavski on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, in September 2022. The then Minister of Foreign Affairs N. Selaković had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic J. Lipavski on the sidelines of the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 16 May 2022 in Brussels. The then President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia I. Dacic paid an official visit to the Czech Republic on 31 August and 1 September 2021. The then Prime Minister of the Czech Republic A. Babiš visited Serbia on 10 February 2021. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Tomaš Petriček visited Serbia on 30 March 2021. The President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, visited Serbia in September 2019. The then President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Radek Vondráček, visited Serbia in October 2019. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, visited the Czech Republic in December 2018. The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dačić, visited the Czech Republic in April 2019. The Deputy MFA of the Czech Republic M. Dvořák visited Belgrade on 5 December 2022. and on that occasion he had a bilateral meeting with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs I. Dačić. The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic P. Jaroš visited Belgrade on 3 June 2021. Political consultations between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic for European Issues А. Chmelař and Head of the Department for Europe М. Mitić were held in Belgrade on 28 and 29 June 2021.
Throughout history, the two countries have had strong cultural, political and trading ties. Relations between Serbia and the Czech Lands date back to the Middle Ages, and intensified in the 19th century, especially with the Czech National Revival. In the interwar period, Yugoslavia was a key ally of Czechoslovakia, through the Little Entente and intensive economic and cultural relations. The value of Serbian-Czech understanding was especially evident in the events in Czechia in 1948 and 1968.
Economic relations
There is mutual interest in and space for the improvement of economic cooperation.
In 2022, the volume of foreign trade exchange reached the amount of 1.67 billion euros (1,675.6 million euros), of which domestic exports were 856,4 million euros, and imports 819,2 million euros. In 2021, the volume of foreign trade amounted to 1,413.5 million euros, of which domestic exports were 748.6 million euros, and imports 664.9 million euros.
With 265.6 million euros invested in the period from 2010 ending with September 2022, the Czech Republic is the 21st largest foreign investor in the Republic of Serbia.
Company Avia Prime bought Jat Tehnika for 10.3 million euros in 2019. MD Investments 2000 bought 4 hectares of building land at Marina Dorćol in Belgrade (the value of the investment is 3.8 billion dinars). Mattoni 1873 and PepsiCo Inc. bought Serbian company Knjaz Miloš in 2019. The Czech PPF Group bought Telenor in the Republic of Serbia (telecommunications and banking) in 2018. In addition, the companies of this mobile operator in Hungary, Bulgaria and Montenegro were also taken over, and the contract on the sale of Telenor’s business in the SEE region is worth 2.8 billion euros. Czechoslovak Group took over the factory 14 October in Kruševac (engineering industry; the value of the investment is 4.1 million euros).
Bilateral agreements
There are 65 bilateral agreements in force, some of which are as follows:
- Agreement between the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro and the Government of the Czech Republic on the Avoidance of Double Taxation with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital (11 November 2004; The Official Gazette of Serbia and Montenegro No. 3/05),
- Agreement on Economic Cooperation between the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro and the Government of the Czech Republic (20 July 2005; The Official Gazette of Serbia and Montenegro No. 10/2005),
- Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Czech Republic to the Agreement between the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Government of the Czech Republic on Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments (4 June 2010; The Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia – International Treaties No. 10/10),
- Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Czech Republic on the Settlement of the Debt of the Republic of Serbia towards the Czech Republic (10 December 2018; The Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia – International Treaties No. 5/19),
- Defence Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Czech Republic (11 September 2019).
Contact information
The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Prague (the Czech Republic): www.prague.mfa.gov.rs.
The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Belgrade (Serbia): https://www.mzv.cz/belgrade/sr/index.html.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia – Department for Europe: tel. 00 381 (0) 11 30 68 326, e-mail: oev@mfa.rs.