President

This chapter focuses on the Czech presidential discourse in 2013–2019 and explains the effect of the migration crisis on Czech foreign policy. The ideology-role matrix brings the possibility of studying FP positions. Several changes in Czech foreign policy appeared at this time (changes of topics in FP, changes of positions and attitudes towards the EU) while some particular topics from the previous years remained (security and economy of the state). Miloš Zeman, the President since 2013, said that the Czech Republic should be more assertive in boosting its national interest, which applies primarily to common EU policies (the topic of sanctions against Russia, economic cooperation instead of human rights support, migration policy, and Muslim migrants). The dominant position in his discourse was that of a Europeanist Reformer, which corresponded with the criticism of the EU at the time (before and during the migration crisis). The President put the national interest first, and used economic, security-related, and sovereignty-related justifications when confronting the European Union practices. A threat often mentioned by him was international terrorism, which brought an Atlanticist Reformer position into the discourse. Also, the positions of Sovereignist Regional Collaborator and Sovereignist Prosperity Builder were observed when he spoke of protecting national interests in the regional cooperation of the V4 or in relations with other international actors.