Jakub Kulhánek (born 30 June 1984) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

diplomat and politician who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

from April to December 2021. Since 2023, he has been the Czech ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Early life

Kulhánek graduated from

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

area studies Area studies, also known as regional studies, is an interdisciplinary field of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/ federal, or cultural regions. The term exists primarily as a general description for what a ...

and received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. He was employed as a consultant by

CEFC China Energy CEFC China Energy () was a Chinese conglomerate. The company was among the 10 largest private companies in China in 2014. In 2017, the company was listed as 222 on the Fortune Global 500. In March 2020, the company—along with its subsidiaries C ...

and worked as an analyst with the Association for International Issues.

Political career

From 2013 until 2017, Kulhánek worked as a parliamentary advisor to then-chairman of the

Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies, officially the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (, PS PČR), is the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The chamber has 200 seats and deputies are elected for four-year terms u ...

Jan Hamáček Jan Hamáček (born 4 November 1978) is a Czech politician who was leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from February 2018 until October 2021, and minister of the Interior from June 2018 to December 2021. He also served as the ...

. In 2014, he served as deputy Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic to

Martin Stropnický Martin Stropnický (born 19 December 1956) is a Czech politician and diplomat who served as the minister of Foreign Affairs from December 2017 to June 2018, and was previously minister of Defence from 2014 to 2017. From 2 January 1998 to 22 July 1 ...

. Kulhánek also worked as an advisor to Prime Minister

Bohuslav Sobotka Bohuslav Sobotka (; born 23 October 1971) is a Czech politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from January 2014 to December 2017 and leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from 2010 until his res ...

during the latter's tenure as prime minister.

2019–2020: European Parliament and Czech regional elections

Kulhánek stood for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

as a candidate of

Social Democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

. He received 595 preferential votes and did not become an MEP. During the

2020 Czech regional elections Elections to regional councils in the Czech Republic in 13 regions (except Prague) were held on 2–3 October 2020. Background ANO 2011 won the previous election. Czech Social Democratic Party saw heavy losses and came second. 2017 Czech legisla ...

, Kulhánek was elected as a member of the

ČSSD Social Democracy (, SOCDEM), known as the Czech Social Democratic Party (, ČSSD) until 10 June 2023, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on t ...

in the Central Bohemian Region, where he received 136 preferential votes.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

In April 2021, after

Lubomír Zaorálek Lubomír Zaorálek (born 6 September 1956) is a Czech politician, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka from 2014 to 2017, and Minister of Culture under Prime Minister Andrej Babiš from 2019 to 2021. ...

rejected his candidacy as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, ČSSD requested Kulhánek to hold the position in the

Second Cabinet of Andrej Babiš The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

. On 15 April, following a meeting with President

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician who served as the third president of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023. He also previously served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...

Lány Castle Lány Castle () is a manor house in Lány in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The current structure, built in the late 15th century, sits on the site of a medieval fortress. The originally Renaissance building was remodeled in ...

, Zeman appointed Kulhánek as foreign minister on 21 April. On 14 May 2021, in response to the

2021 Israel–Palestine crisis The 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, sometimes called the Unity Intifada, was a major outbreak of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict that mainly commenced on 10 May 2021, and continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May. I ...

, Kulhánek decided to display the Israeli flag at Czernin Palace as a sign of solidarity with Israel, declaring that "Israel is facing an absolutely outrageous and barbaric attack".

Czech ambassador to the United Nations

On 15 February 2022, Kulhánek was appointed Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the

, an occupation he hinted during his tenure as foreign minister in the second cabinet of Andrej Babiš. In 2023, Kulhánek resigned from ČSSD after disagreement with the party leadership course represented by

Michal Šmarda Michal Šmarda (born 31 January 1971) is a Czech former football midfielder and current coach. A midfielder, Šmarda played in the Czech First League on over 300 occasions, winning the competition with Sparta Prague in 1999. Playing career He pl ...

Personal life

Kulhánek has a daughter with his partner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulhanek, Jakub 1984 births Living people People from Mělník Ministers of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic Charles University alumni Georgetown University alumni Czech Social Democratic Party Government ministers