[MoFA] Interview With Czech Republic

Day 3,069, 13:43 • Published in Norway Norway • by Norwegian Consulate

Greetings Norway! Today I'm dusting off the old MoFA org and bringing to you the first of what I hope is at least four interviews with my MoFA counter parts in other nations this term. Today I had the pleasure of speaking with the Dictator & Minister of Foreign Affairs from Czech Republic, Janty F!



1. Your nation is (I’m assuming) is under a self imposed Dictatorship with you currently as Dictator. Can you explain the role of Dictator in your nation and how, if so that affects your role as MoFA?
You are assuming right. The role of Dictator in our country is defined by our Constitution (http://wiki.erepublik.com/index.php/Constitution_of_the_Czech_Republic). In theory, as a Dictator I need to do what Congress (and government) wants me to do, I need to give away all the gold from Dictator medals, and if I do something wrong, I will be immediately removed. So as a Dictator, I can't actually do anything except releasing articles, pushing buttons and looking good while doing it. But as you have said, I'm also MoFA, and that allows me to actually do something on my own - finding TW partners, finding MPP partners, promoting us in other countries, etc. I did all of this when I was MoFA only, and I continue to do the exact same when I'm both Dictator and MoFA. So becoming a Dictator didn't really change my MoFA role at all.

2. Your nation has only four political parties. Can you give a short explanation of them and their current roles in Czech Republic’s government?
Well, for a long time we had 3 parties, so four is actually quite high number for us 😃 . In the past, the parties were really different and they were also opposing each other, so our domestic political scene was quite lively. Nowadays though, the parties are not fighting anymore and the biggest party (Czech Right Union) usually wins all elections. When it comes to government - in the last few months, CPs were accepting anyone who was willing to be active, regardless of their party affiliation. And even now you can see we are not able to fill all the government slots. A lot of our citizens are older players, who were in charge for years and now they want to rest. And although I'm involved in politics "only" for nine months, I can totally understand them, because I’m starting to feel tired too.

3. Czech Republic is a member of Nebula. Can you tell us a little about why you joined Nebula and what it means to you today to be apart of the alliance?
I wasn't playing when we joined the Nebula, so I can't tell you much about that. From what I have heard or read, our alliance at time, LETO, has disbanded. And since we had friendly relations with LETO members, we naturally followed some of them into a new alliance. And this alliance happened to be Nebula. Jumping back to the present - since the activity in some countries is decreasing, Nebula might not be in the shape it was a year ago. But being in an alliance is a big deal anyway, because it allows us to further develop our friendship with other countries. So as long as I will be involved in Czech politics, I'll always strive for Czech Republic being not "alliance-less".


4. Last month you signed an MPP with Poland. Can you tell us how significant that is for Czech Republic?
When I became a MoFA, we didn't have the best relations with our two big neighbours. We were not enemies, but we were not friends either. Thankfully, the relations started to improve, and we even had a successful TW with Hungary. Last month, Kherehabath became a Polish CP, and he vowed to improve relations with all neighbouring countries. He signed MPP with Germany, Lithuania, and then he offered MPP to us. I have to admit, I was kinda scared our Congress won't accept it, because Poland used to occupy us for bonuses in the past. But when I proposed the MPP to the Congress, all the Congressmembers voted YES. It shows that having a good relations with our neighbours is a vital issue for our people. It means a lot for me too. And I'm very happy to say that this MPP will be soon signed for another month.


5. Czech Republic is sometimes bordered by Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Germany. How has being surrounded by for the most part bigger nations and in some instances eRepublik superpowers shaped your nation’s foreign affairs policies?
Well, since bordering Slovakian, Austrian and German territories are all owned by Poland and Hungary, I often tend to simplify the situation and say we only have two neighbours (+ Austria ofc, I like those guys a lot!). Living between Poland and Hungary has its advantages and disadvantages. On plus side, the likelihood of attack against us is not that high (because who the hell would fly here, just to get crushed by our big neighbours 😃 ? ). On the other hand, it also limits our possibilities to attack somebody or to have TWs. Thankfully, there are still countries who are able to flight here and have fun with us. When it comes to foreign affairs - my main goal will always be to be on good terms with all our neighbours regardless of who they are and how big they are.

6. Two of your neighbors (Poland & Hungary) are currently voting to join Pacifica which it looks like both will. What does this mean for your country and what are your current relations with Pacifica?
Looks like everybody is jumping at the Pacifica bandwagon and I kinda wish we could do that too 😃 . It is good to see both Poland and Hungary being a part of an alliance, because as big nations they deserve to be in one. When it comes to Pacifica - well, it is personally a difficult topic for me, because I don't know a lot about some of their members. USA used to occupy us for a while during Wild Owl's regime (he is SG of Pacifica now), and when we signed MPP with USA few months after, he was able to shut it down as MoFA after two or three months.

With that said, I consider him to be a great leader, because what he achieved with Pacifica is something nobody else would be able to do. On the other hand, we had a somewhat good relations with Russia in the past, and I have already talked a lot about Hungary and Poland. What all of this means to the Czech Republic? Well, Pacifica is now bigger than Asteria, and it is on our borders. We cannot ignore this sudden chain of events. So while we will remain pro-Asteria at the moment, we will also set on a course of being a pro-Pacifica too. Hopefully both of these courses will not differ in the future, because it would be a really hard decision for us to choose between them.



7. It was just announced in RL that Czech Republic could possibly be changing its name in english to Czechia. Although this is RL it could have in game implications as well. What are your thoughts?
To be honest, I'm not sure why we even need to change our English name in the first place. Half of the countries will still call us Czechoslovakia anyway 😃 . And I'm sure there are still countries with longer names, so I see no reason to even bother (unless you are a sports fan who is tired to shout "Czech Republic"). But if we really HAD TO find a one-word name, Czechia would be okay with me, because it is already used in some places and I simply can't think of any better equivalent.



Thank you for reading! If you have any other questions about Czech Republic please drop them in the comments below and Im sure Janty F will reply! Also if you have any suggestions on who to interview next please just post in the comments.

As always don't forget to V,S,S&E!

Kind Regards,


Minister of Foreign Affairs