FM awards medal to former Czech ambassador to Syria

Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) has awarded the Medal for Merits in Diplomacy to former ambassador to Syria Eva Filipi, recognising her lifelong service to Czech diplomacy.

Filipi previously served as ambassador in Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. During her last posting, she remained in Syria after the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, one of the few Western diplomats to do so, and later represented the United States in Damascus after it closed its embassy in 2012. She officially left the post in 2023.

Macinka told journalists he hopes to continue working with Filipi, potentially as part of an advisory team at the Foreign Ministry. Her expertise, he said, could play a key role in the planned relocation of the Czech embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move Macinka publicly supported in mid-December. In a brief speech, Filipi welcomed the new ministry leadership.