Foreign ministry comes under fire for planned closure of embassies

The Czech Foreign Ministry has come under fire for its plan to close down two embassies in central Africa. Members of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday demanded an explanation from Deputy Foreign Minister Jiří Schneider, arguing that the country was relinquishing its hard-earned position in this part of the world. The Czech Foreign Ministry recently selected five Czech embassies for closure in an effort to meet the government’s austerity measures. The choice of embassies has been questioned with critics calling the plan imprudent. Mr. Schneider said the Czech Republic did not wish to withdraw its presence from central Africa and would try to reach an agreement on an embassy-sharing-scheme with the Visegrad group states. The embassies to be closed down are those in the Congo, Kenya, Venezuela, Yemen and Costa Rica.