Speaking to reporters during a visit to Montenegro, Czech President Pavel said that the return of Donald Trump to the White House is above all an opportunity, adding that he wanted to wait for the proposals on Ukraine and the European Union that Trump’s new US administration would come up with.
“Let’s look at it positively,” said Pavel. “What can we take from this moment of expectation that the new administration has brought, especially regarding the resolution of the war in Ukraine.” He said the other question was what the Trump administration would do in economic relations with Europe.
Czech politicians across the political spectrum agreed shortly after Trump’s inauguration on Monday that the US should remain a key ally of the Czech Republic, despite bellicose rhetoric from the new administration and threats of tariffs, which have sparked fears of a trade war between the US and EU.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) congratulated Trump on his return to the White House and said he looked forward to working with him, highlighting both security and trade relations, while Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky stated that the Czech Republic was ready to deepen ties with the US and to pursue “a bold transatlantic agenda through cooperation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)” and on an EU-US basis. “A new era of ambition and determination is beginning for the United States,” he said.
Trump’s inauguration speech was also praised by opposition politicians, with ANO leader and former prime minister Andrej Babis saying it was a speech by “a strong leader”. At a press conference following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban yesterday, Slovak PM Robert Fico said Trump’s first steps as president were “inspiring”.
In his inauguration speech, as he did eight years ago, Trump portrayed the US as a country in decline, while claiming that under his leadership, the country would face “an exciting new era of national achievement”.
In his first hours in office, the new president signed a large number of radical executive orders, targeting undocumented migrants living in the US, rolling back environmental protections, and imposing import tariffs. It is not yet clear whether they will also apply to imports from the EU. He also withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organisation, and called on Russian leader Vladimir Putin for a deal to end the three-year invasion of Ukraine.
