"The Eastern Partnership countries are an area of strategic interest for Czechia. In this part of Eastern Europe, Russia is trying to continue to assert its power and imperial policy and influence, while the European Union offers these countries mutually beneficial partnership relations, equal participation in the process of European integration. It is a great honour for me to be involved in this important area of foreign policy for us within the EU - because it is about our future, the future of our children and the future generations," said the new Special Representative. 

Stulík relies not only on his knowledge of several Eastern European languages, including Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian, but also on his 30 years of experience and knowledge of Eastern Europe, where he has lived and worked for more than a decade. He spent twelve years in the EU diplomatic service (EEAS) and has knowledge of EU policies on Eastern Europe, including the Eastern Partnership. All this will help him to make the Czech Republic even more visible and heard in EU debates on Eastern Europe.

The Eastern Partnership is the European Union's policy for the six Eastern European and Caucasus countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus - and its main objective is to create conditions for accelerating political rapprochement and continuing economic integration between the EU and the six partner countries. Coordination of this policy has long been a priority of Czech foreign policy, especially in the light of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022, which brought about a fundamental change in the EU's Eastern policy, including the prospect of EU membership for some of these countries.

The last Special Envoy for the Eastern Partnership was Jan Marian, whose mandate ended in May 2023 when he became Deputy Foreign Minister.