Czech Republic–Poland relations

Poland and the Czech Republic are both members of the European Union and of NATO. Both joined the EU simultaneously on 1 May 2004. They also both joined NATO on 12 March 1999. Both countries, together with Slovakia and Hungary, form the Visegrád Group, which is an important regional group in Central Europe. Both countries are also members of the Bucharest Nine, Three Seas Initiative, OECD, OSCE, Council of Europe and the World Trade Organization.

Polish-Czech relations
Map indicating locations of Poland and Czech Republic

Poland
Czech Republic

They share 796 km (495 mi) of the Czech Republic–Poland border, which can be crossed anywhere without border control under the Schengen Agreement. The two countries first joined NATO in 1999 and then the European Union in 2004.

Official name Czech Republic Republic of Poland
Common name Czechia Poland
Flag
 Czech Republic Poland
Coat of arms
Kde domov můj (Czech)
10,649,800 38,036,118
78,866 km2 (30,450 sq mi) 312,696 km2 (120,733 sq mi)
134/km2 (347.1/sq mi) 122/km2 (316.0/sq mi)
UTC+1 (CET)
Government
 Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic Unitary parliamentary republic
Capital & largest city
  Prague – 1,324,277 (2,677,964 Metro)  Warsaw - 1,863,056 (3,100,844 Metro)
Official language
 Czech Polish
First leader
 Bořivoj I, Duke of Bohemia (867–889, traditionally)

Václav Havel (1936-2011, current constitution)

 Mieszko I (930-992, traditionally)

Wojciech Jaruzelski (1923–2014, current constitution)

Current head of government
 Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS; 2021–present) Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (2017-present)
Current head of state
 President Petr Pavel (2023–present) President Andrzej Duda (2015–present)
$261.732 billion

$24,569 per capita

 $748.8 billion

$19,912 per capita

$432.346 billion

$40,586 per capita

 $1.705 trillion

$45,343 per capita

Czech koruna (Kč) – CZK Złoty (zł) – PLN
0.891 (very high) - 2017 0.876 (very high) - 2021
Expatriates
 38,218 Poles in the Czech Republic 3,447 Czechs in Poland

History

Relations date back to the Middle Ages, when both countries were established in the 9th-10th century. The founding Piast and Přemyslid dynasties, of Poland and Czechia (Bohemia) respectively, intermarried several times. Prime examples include first Polish ruler Mieszko I who married Princess Doubravka of Bohemia, and first Bohemian king Vratislaus II who married Princess Świętosława of Poland.

Modern relations
Meeting of Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala and Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki in Prague in 2022

There is a Polish Institute in Prague.

April 17–18, 2010, were declared days of national mourning in the Czech Republic to commemorate the 96 victims of the Smolensk air disaster, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria Kaczyńska.[1]

In a 2010 poll conducted by CVVM in the Czech Republic, relations with Poland were ranked as the second best out of 13 countries, after Slovakia, with 92% of respondents viewing them as very good or rather good.[2] In 1993, according to polls, the Czechs were liked by 38% of Poles, with 28% negative opinions. There has been a big improvement since then, and recently the Czechs are among the most-liked nations in Poland, leading in the polls since 2010 (53% of favourable opinions in 2010, 56% in 2019).[3][4]

Polish firefighters helped in flood recovery in the Czech Republic during the 2002[5] and 2013 floods.[6]

The Czech Republic and Poland are important trading partners. In 2019, Poland was the third largest source of imports and export destination for the Czech Republic,[7] whereas the Czech Republic was the seventh largest source of imports and the second largest export destination for Poland.[8]

In February 2021, the Czech Republic sued Poland over the Turów Coal Mine at the European Court of Justice, the first time that an EU member state had sued another one over an environmental issue.[9][10]

Czechia and Poland co-hosted the 2021 Men's European Volleyball Championship.

Polish firefighters and police pilots helped extinguish the 2022 wildfires in the Czech Republic.[11]

European Union

Both countries became members of the European Union in 2004.

NATO

Both countries became members of NATO in 1999.

Resident diplomatic missions
  • Czech Republic has an embassy in Warsaw.
  • Poland has an embassy in Prague and a consulate-general in Ostrava.
  • Embassy of the Czech Republic in Warsaw
    Embassy of the Czech Republic in Warsaw
  • Embassy of Poland in Prague
    Embassy of Poland in Prague
  • Consulate-General of Poland in Ostrava
    Consulate-General of Poland in Ostrava

Honorary consulates

There are honorary consulates of the Czech Republic in Bydgoszcz, Częstochowa, Łódź, Opole,[12] Poznań, Szczecin and Wrocław,[13] and an honorary consulate of Poland in Brno.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Vláda schválila dny smutku, připadají na 17. a 18. dubna". Vláda České Republiky (in Czech). 13 April 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  2. CVVM Archived 2007-07-07 at the Wayback Machine, Občané o vztazích ČR s některými zeměmi – listopad 2010
  3. Stosunek Polaków do innych narodów. Komunikat z badań, Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej. Warsaw. February 2013 (in Polish).
  4. Kogo nie lubią Polacy? Sprawdź, co wynika z najnowszego badania CBOS. Gazetaprawna.pl. 2019-02-07 (retrieved 2020-04-24)
  5. "Polscy strażacy pomagają Czechom" (in Polish). 22 August 2002. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  6. "Polscy strażacy pomogą Czechom". Wprost (in Polish). 7 June 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  7. "Czech Republic trade balance, exports and imports by country and region 2019". World Integrated Trade Solution. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  8. "Poland trade balance, exports and imports by country and region 2019". World Integrated Trade Solution. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  9. Taylor, Kira (6 May 2021). "Turow: the Polish coal mine at the centre of regional tensions". www.euractiv.com.
  10. "Czech-Polish relations hit rock bottom". www.euractiv.com. 24 September 2021.
  11. "Polscy policjanci i strażacy wrócili do domu z akcji gaszenia pożaru w Czechach". PolskieRadio.pl (in Polish). 31 July 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  12. "Konsulat Honorowy Republiki Czeskiej w Opolu". www.mzv.cz. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
  13. "Konsulaty honorowe i inne przedstawicielstwa RCz w Polsce". Ambasada Republiki Czeskiej w Polsce (in Polish). Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  14. "Konsulaty honorowe". Portal Gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 9 July 2022.
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