| U.S. Government Assistance to Eastern Europe under the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act -FY 2004 Released by the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs January 2005 II. Country Assessment--Czech Republic U.S. STRATEGIC INTERESTS
The Czech Republic’s longstanding ties to the United States, the values it shares with the U.S., its membership in NATO and the EU, and the increasing awareness of the role Prague can play in international affairs make the Czechs excellent allies in joint campaigns against terrorism, and for more openness in countries with oppressive political systems and/or overly restricted markets. In FY 2004, the U.S. Government (USG) provided an estimated $12.56 million in assistance to the Czech Republic:
$0.20 million in economic reform programs; and
$10.15 million in security, regional stability, and law enforcement programs. In FY 2004, a total of 95 Czechs (not including participants in the International Visitor Program) traveled to the United States on USG-funded exchange programs. Although no new SEED funds were provided in FY 2004, program implementers continued to use SEED funding remaining from previous fiscal years, as described below. In FY 2004, the lion’s share of U.S. assistance went to the Czech military to help it continue its transformation to a professional, deployable force. Some very limited funds were also spent in the area of democratic reform. SECTORAL ASSESSMENTS It is now 15 years since the revolution that ended the rule of a one-party state with a centrally planned economy. The Czech Republic joined the European Union in FY 2004. Many of the donors that contributed funds to the democratic transformation have ended their activities here. Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are therefore increasingly dependent upon government funds, a situation that threatens the independence of many groups, especially the advocacy NGOs working in the areas of human rights, anti-corruption, and rule of law. The political and social environment for cultivating advocacy and public policy is weak. The legacy of political indifference that marked life under communism still persists, to a certain extent. Moreover, NGOs lack the mechanisms and media support to expose corruption, conflicts of interest, and other practices that threaten democracy and civil society. The legislative, fiscal, and philanthropic environment also is not favorable for NGO development, due to the murky legal framework for public participation, as well as the lack of appropriate tax legislation to improve incentives for corporate and individual giving. Democratic Reform The biggest grant in this sector was $675,000, the last tranche of a multi-year grant that USAID gave to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Prague-based Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI) Institute. The CEELI Institute used the funds to train judges and prosecutors from Central Asia, Iraq, and Southeastern Europe. CEELI will train 200 Iraqi judges in FY 2005. It is difficult for Embassy Prague to assess the results of CEELI’s work, as no Czechs were trained in FY 2004. Economic and Social Sector Reform The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) gave only one grant in FY 2004, a $175,000 grant for a waste heat recovery project. The Czechs are among the least efficient users of energy in the EU. This project, not yet completed, is designed to increase energy efficiency and help the nation meet its environmental and energy goals. The Foreign Agricultural Service sent nine Czechs from government, the media, and the private sector to the U.S. under the Cochrane program to open up markets for U.S. agricultural products, introduce new American foods to the Czech Republic, and favorably to influence Czech agricultural policy. Security, Regional Stability, and Law Enforcement In 2004, the Czechs received $7.95 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) assistance and $2.2 million in International Military Education and Training (IMET) funds. These two programs account for just over 90 percent of all U.S. assistance funds. The Czech Republic is in the process of reforming its military from a large, conscripted, static defensive force to a professional, modern, flexible, and deployable military. Drawing in large part on NATO's recommendations for lighter, more specialized forces, the Czechs have used a major portion of their FMF assistance to meet the capabilities commitments pledged at the Prague Summit in 2002. In 2004, 86 Czechs received IMET training in the United States. In the law enforcement arena, the USG donated a mobile x-ray van, worth $185,000, through the State Department’s program on Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS). The van will be used primarily at Prague’s International Airport, the country’s only international customs border now that it has joined the EU. The U.S. Department of Justice funded an international meeting on seizing the assets of gangs trafficking in persons. In addition, SEED funds administered by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) that had been obligated in FY 2002 were spent in FY 2004 on drug enforcement training, drug prevention, and combating the financing of terrorism. The U.S. Embassy expects to use up the last of these remaining SEED funds in calendar year 2005. COUNTRY PERFORMANCE MEASURES ECONOMIC & DEMOCRATIC REFORMS, 1991-2004 Data are drawn from EBRD, Transition Report (November 2004) & Freedom House, Nations in Transit 2004 & Freedom in the World 2004. Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 representing the most advanced.
ECONOMIC STRUCTURE AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, 1990-2004 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2004 (2004); UNICEF, Social Monitor 2004 (2004); EBRD, Transition Report (November 2004); and UNDP, Human Development Report (2004). CZECH REPUBLIC
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Area: 78,866 sq km, slightly smaller than South Carolina 
