Diplomacy for half a billion will reconstruct the mission building at the UN

Prague - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will prioritize the reconstruction of the building of the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the UN in New York. In 2014, the government approved that in addition to this diplomatic facility, it would also ensure the repair and extension of the embassy in Washington, for which it was to use unspent funds amounting to 558.5 million crowns. However, the allocated funds will not cover both projects, according to materials from the ministry that the cabinet approved today. This was reported by its press department on the website.

The government originally allocated 579 million crowns in the spring of 2012 for the construction of a new embassy in the American metropolis. According to diplomats, the current building, which was built in 1969, has inadequate installations and other deficiencies. However, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the caretaker government, Jan Kohout, halted the project a year later. His argument included the fact that the construction of a new facility would, according to new calculations, be twice as expensive as the sum promised by the government.

The new embassy building in the shape of a Y was originally planned to be completed in 2016. However, the ministry decided in 2014 to use the 558.5 million crowns for the renovation of two diplomatic missions in the USA - the embassy in Washington and the permanent mission to the UN in New York.

After the initiation of project preparations and the refinement of proposals, it was found by the ministry that the resources were insufficient for the execution of both repairs. "Considering the fact that the current technical condition of the building of the Permanent Mission in New York is already unsatisfactory, the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended prioritizing the reconstruction and expansion of the building of the Permanent Mission in New York and using all the allocated funds in the resolution for the implementation of this action," the ministry stated. It intends to cover the costs of the embassy reconstruction from its own resources considering budgetary possibilities in the coming years.

Of the allocated amount of 558.5 million crowns, approximately 20.5 million has been spent so far on the project preparation for the renovation of the building of the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the UN and eight million on the project preparation for the repair of the embassy. The remaining 530 million will therefore be used for the reconstruction and expansion of the permanent mission building. "The missing funds for the proper execution of the project will be covered by the resources of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as will the entire implementation of the reconstruction of the diplomatic office in Washington," the ministry added.