Czech to use Czechia as its short official name

After a meeting held at Prague Castle attended by top constitutional officials of the Czech Republic on Thursday, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said that they agreed the country should also use its shortened name Czechia abroad.

Apart from Zaoralek, the meeting was attended by President Milos Zeman, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the heads of the two houses of parliament, Jan Hamacek and Milan Stech, Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky.

Zaoralek said they agreed with Sobotka that the government would confirm this decision.

As the country has had no official short name, Zaoralek said it is not good if a country does not have clearly defined symbols or if it even does not clearly say what its name is.

The approval of an official short name should prevent the country's name from being deformed or mangled. He said the name "Czechia" unfortunately has not become widely popular, although there seems to be no other alternative.

The Czech Republic will formally apply for the adding of its shortened name to the United Nations Geographical Names database that contains the official names of countries and cities in six languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish).

Zaoralek said the benefits of adding the shortened name to the United Nations list would be seen at sports and other international events and it would help to promote the country. Endit