Botschafter | Cercle Diplomatique Magazin

BOTSCHAFTER

CZECH REPUBLIC - H.E. Jiří Šitler

Credentials: 15.09.2022

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Born on December 22 , 1964
Married, 3 children

EDUCATION

April 1990: PhDr. degree in history, Charles University
1983-1988: Faculty of Philosophy, Charles University, Prague, graduated in history in May 1988
1979-1983: Secondary school Gymnázium J. K. Tyla, Hradec Králové

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

August 2020 – August 2022:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Central Europe Department

February 2016 – August 2020:
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Sweden

March 2015 – January 2016:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues and Combating Antisemitism

November 2010 – January 2015:
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Romania

April 2008 – October 2010:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Asia and Pacific Department

December 2007 – March 2008:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, special envoy on Myanmar/Burma

December 2006 – November 2007:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of Diplomatic Protocol

May 2001 – December 2006:
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to the Kingdom of Thailand, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao PDR and the Union of Myanmar/Burma

September 2000 – May 2001:
Ambassador at Large (special envoy on World War II related issues)
• chief negotiator of the Czech Government in negotiations with Germany, Austria and the US on the compensation of forced labour and other Nazi wrongs
• observer in the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC)
• chairman of the Working Group for the Summarization of Property Wrongs within the Mixed Commission Dealing with the Mitigation of Certain Property Wrongs suffered by Holocaust Victims (presided by the Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Rychetský)

September 1998 – September 2000:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Central Europe Department

July 1997 – September 1998:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Director of the 1st Territorial Department

February 1995 – June 1997:
Office of the President of the Republic, Foreign Policy Department
Advisor for President Václav Havel’s speeches

March 1993 – January 1995:
Office of the President of the Republic, Press Department

January 1992 – February 1993:
Catholic University, Eichstätt, and LMU University, Munich, Germany - research

October 1988 – September 1989:
General Headquarters (Ministry of Defence), Department of External Relations – military interpreter) compulsory military service

September 1988 – March 1993:
Central Archives of the Academy of Sciences

Other activities:

• Germany, several research stays and lectures (1992, 1993, 1998)
• Italy, State Archives Venice and University of Perugia (1990, 1991, 1992)
• USA, German Marshall Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Foundation Program (1995, 1996)
• United Kingdom, Chevening Scholarship, Thai studies at the School of African and Oriental Studies in London (1997)
• Lectures and seminars on Czech foreign policy at Charles University, Prague (1996-2001)
• Member of the Board of Trustees of theEndowment Fund for Holocaust Victims (until 2001)
• Member of the Supervisory Board of the Czech-German Future Fund (until 2012)
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of the Terezín Initiative (until 2012)
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the German Federal Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (present)

Publications:
Numerous essays and articles and books, especially on Czech - German relations, World War II – related issues, Czech political history and South-East Asia history.

Awards:
Medal of Honour of the Czech Union of Freedom Fighters (1999)
Commemorative Medal of the Union of Forced Labourers for 2004 (June 2005)
Red Cross Medal of Appreciation 2nd Class (HM Queen of Thailand, October 2005)
Honorary Plaque of the Czech Council of Nazi Victims (June 2006)
Knight Grand Cross of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant (HM King of Thailand, November 2006)
Cross of the the Romanian Royal House (May 2012)
Free Burma Rangers Meritorious Service Medal (June 2014)
Honorary Member of the Association of the War Veterans of Romania (January 2015)

Fotos: Carina Karlovits/HBF und Peter Lechner/HBF