He said that the international community's refusal to recognize independence for the two provinces was fundamentally different from the situation of Kosovo, which was recognized, because, in the latter case, recognition was preceded by long-standing international negotiations and because, in the case of Kosovo, an external power did not have an interest in its independence.

Schwarzenberg acknowledged that there are differences of opinion between Czech President Václav Klaus, who blames Georgia for the conflict, and the government of Mirek Topolánek, which says Russia is at fault, but he said that this is nothing unusual in the government of a democratic state. The main thing, he said, is that it is the government that determines foreign policy.

Both Schwarzenberg and Topolánek will represent the Czech Republic at next week's summit – Klaus will not attend.

He added that the Czechs cannot allow themselves to be intimidated, in regard to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev's thinly veiled threats of a military response to the placement of an American anti-missile radar on Czech territory. He said the fact that Medvedev considers the proposed location of the radar in the Brdy mountains near Prague to be "near its borders" gives cause for concern.