Abstract
The current diaspora policy in the Czech Republic has gradually developed since the 1990s. It has not been a completely uniform development over the years, with the pace intensifying especially in recent years.
Support for the restoration and maintenance of the cultural heritage of traditional Czech(oslovak) expatriate communities and education (teaching Czech language and realities) of the children of the new diaspora, including teaching the Czech language to adults (e.g. second-generation Czechs or their partners), predominates. On the other hand, there is a lack of support for return migration or more systematic contact with the new diaspora.
The biggest success of the diaspora policy so far is considered to be the enactment of dual citizenship in 2013 and the significant increase in the financial budget for compatriots for the years 2021-2025. It should be noted, however, that both in the cultural and educational spheres and in the political sphere, the activities of the Czech state are rather a reaction to initiatives "from below" and it is not yet possible to speak of a coherent, clearly focused compatriot policy.
In-depth interviews with representatives of state institutions and non-state organisations involved in the development of compatriot policy identified two general principles that should accompany, if not define, the further development of Czech compatriot policy: 1) recognition and visibility of the relationship between the state and compatriots and 2) modernisation of the understanding of compatriotism and the needs of compatriot policy. The actors considered three specific measures to be priorities for the establishment of such a compatriot policy: a) the legalization of relations between the compatriot and the state, b) the legalization of correspondence voting, and c) continuous and systematic support for education among compatriots and their children with regard to building their knowledge of the Czech language and Czech realities, and thus making it easier to maintain contact with their country of origin.