Phone call between Petr Pavel and Taiwan’s president

A political change of course in Prague Castle: Czech Republic’s newly elected President Petr Pavel spoke on the phone with Ukraine and Taiwan shortly after his election victory, sending a clear signal to Russia and China. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen congratulated Pavel during the conversation on Monday. He and Tsai reiterated that the Czech Republic and Taiwan “share values of freedom, democracy and human rights,” Pavel wrote on Twitter. “We agreed on strengthening our partnership.” It was the first-ever official phone call between an EU head of government and a Taiwanese president. Pavel also expressed interest in personally visiting Taiwan.