Pavel and Lipavský in New York for UN General Assembly

Czech President Petr Pavel and Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský landed on American soil on Sunday evening for the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, which starts on Monday. Mr Pavel is leading the Czech delegation at the General Assembly for the first time since taking office. It will also be the first time a Czech president has addressed the assembly in six years, as since 2017 Czechia has been represented at the UN by either the prime minister or the foreign minister, rather than the president.

The main topics at the assembly are expected to be the war in Ukraine and climate change. Mr Pavel is due to give a speech on Monday at a summit about the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and again as part of the General Debate of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Mr Lipavský will deliver a speech regarding the upcoming Summit of the Future.

President Pavel also has about a dozen bilateral meetings planned on the sidelines of the assembly, including with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and Liechtenstein's Grand Duke Hans Adam II.