Jakub Kulhánek set for foreign minister’s post

The Social Democrats, the junior party in the coalition government, will put forward Jakub Kulhánek for the post of minister of foreign affairs to replace Tomáš Petříček, who was dismissed on Monday. The job had first been offered to arts minister Lubomír Zaorálek, but he turned it down.

Mr. Kulhánek, who is 37, has hitherto been a deputy minister of the interior. Critics question his suitability for the post of foreign minister given that in the past he worked for the Chinese company CEFC.

In an interview with Radio Z on Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said he has "no problem" with Deputy Interior Minister Jan Kulhánek being the Social Democrat’s choice for new minister of foreign affairs. He went on to say that he believes his relationship with Mr. Kulhánek will be better than with his predecessor Tomáš Petříček while also reiterating that Czech foreign policy is anchored in NATO and EU membership.