Browsing by Subject "Czech Republic"

Faculty: Faculty of Arts Degree programme: Russian Studies (MARS) Author: Julie Ricarova Title: Friend or Foe? Russia as seen by Czech presidents Level: Master’s Month and year: May 2022 Number of pages: 63 Keywords: Russia; Czech Republic; presidents; bilateral relations; foreign policy; opportunities and threats; small state theory Supervisor or supervisors: Katalin Miklóssy Where deposited: Helsinki University Library Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to analyse the attitudes of presidents of the Czech Republic towards Russia and how they identify threats and opportunities of bilateral relations between the Czech Republic and Russian Federation. The study will do so with the use of small state theory as a tool for explaining how political elites approach the state identity and ideology, and consequently how they understand threats and opportunities in bilateral relations with Russia. Soon after the fall of communism during the autumn of 1989, the independent Czech Republic was established in 1993. As a former Soviet bloc satellite, the newly emerged small state of the Czech Republic sought to integrate into the western democratic structures such as NATO and the EU. January the 1st in 2023 will mark thirty years of independent Czech Republic existence. Equally divided in three decades by three different presidents who all served two executive terms, each of them understood the relations with Russia differently through the framework of their political and personal background and according to what kind of Russia they faced during their presidency. The thesis will analyse speeches and interviews of the presidents and identify their narratives about Russia. The result of this thesis is a close analysis of the Russia discourse of all three presidents. Since the presidents in the Czech Republic have a significant role in setting an agenda of foreign policy and in representing the state abroad, researching narratives of the presidents about Russia brings an important understanding to Czech-Russian relations. Furthermore, the process of establishing an approach of political elites towards Russia is highly relevant in the context of small European states. The Czech Republic serves as a good case study of how political elites from countries previously affiliated with the Soviet Union assess the bilateral relations with Russia.