In a historic display of international solidarity, the Czech Senate on 25 March, 2026, passed a landmark resolution defending the religious freedom of the Tibetan people and their exclusive right to determine their future spiritual leader. The motion passed with an overwhelming 40 votes in favour and none opposed, signalling a unified rejection of recent legislative efforts by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to control Tibetan spiritual identity. The resolution specifically recommends the Czech government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to support the Tibetan people’s free choice of the 15th Dalai Lama.
The resolution comes after years of sustained advocacy by the Tibetan leadership, whose engagements with Czech officials and parliamentarians have helped raise awareness of Tibet’s religious and cultural rights. Alongside the broader community of Czech supporters, these efforts contributed to shaping a consensus in the Senate in favour of Tibetan spiritual autonomy.
Proposed by Senate Vice-President Jitka Seitlova and supported by Senators Přemysl Rabas, Břetislav Rychlík, and Jiří Růžička, the resolution highlights the Czech Republic’s long-standing relationship with Tibet. It recalls the December 2025 parliamentary delegation visit to Dharamshala, their meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the private meeting between President Petr Pavel and the 14th Dalai Lama in July 2025.
During the debate, Senate Vice-President Jiří Oberfalzer who was chairing the session welcomed Thinlay Chukki, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration, noting her presence as a sign of the Senate’s solidarity with Tibetans facing repression in China. The Representative was accompanied by Advocacy Officer Phuntsok Topgyal who also attended the entire debate session.
Senate Vice-President Jitka Seitlova emphasised the resolution’s broader human rights context, stating: “This is not merely a regional matter. Restricting freedom, curtailing identity, and undermining human rights anywhere affects the security and values we cherish worldwide. The Tibetan people continue to suffer under occupation, and it is our duty to support them in their struggle for religious freedom and cultural survival.”
Senator Přemysl Rabas, rapporteur for the resolution, drew a sharp analogy, comparing Chinese attempts to control the Dalai Lama’s succession to a hypothetical scenario where the European Union would dictate the election of the Pope. He stressed that the resolution addresses both the Chinese government’s interference in Tibet and the recently passed Law on Ethnic Unity and Progress, which threatens the rights of ethnic minorities in China, including Tibetans.
Senator Břetislav Rychlík recounted harrowing stories from Tibetan exile communities, including the plight of children forced into state-run boarding schools, stripped of their language and culture, and acts of protest through self-immolation. He described these measures as “a massive attempt at genocide against a historic nation” and called for urgent international support.
Thinlay Chukki, speaking after the resolution’s adoption, said:
“The Czech Senate has today sent a clear and powerful message to the world: spiritual heritage cannot be legislated by an authoritarian state. By standing with the Tibetan people in our right to choose our own leaders, the Czech Republic reaffirms its legacy as a champion of human dignity. This resolution is not just a document; it is a beacon of hope for every Tibetan and we are deeply grateful to the Czech Republic for this courageous stand.”
China Criticises Czech Republic Over Senate Resolution on Dalai Lama
China said in a statement late on Thursday that it strongly opposed the Czech Senate passing a draft resolution on the Dalai Lama’s succession, stating that it “grossly interfered” with China’s internal affairs.
The Czech Senate passed the resolution on March 25, around two weeks after China approved a law on a “shared” national identity among the country’s 55 ethnic minority groups, including Tibetans.
The resolution specifically recommends the Czech government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, support the Tibetan people’s free choice of the 15th Dalai Lama.
The Chinese embassy in the Czech Republic said it expressed “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the fact that certain Czech parliamentarians disregarded China’s solemn position on Tibet-related issues and grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs.”
Tibet is an “inseparable part of Chinese territory, and Tibetan affairs are purely China’s internal affairs,” it said.
China said the 14th Dalai Lama was “not simply a religious figure, but a political exile who engages in anti-China separatist activities under the guise of religion.”
Beijing was angered last July after Czech President Petr Pavel met the Tibetan spiritual leader in India. A group from the Czech parliament also travelled to Dharamshala in December and met the Dalai Lama.
The Communist Party established the Tibet Autonomous Region in September 1965, six years after the 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in the wake of a failed uprising.
Since Xi Jinping became president in early 2013, China has deepened its institutional control in Tibet – from requiring Tibetan Buddhism to be guided by the Chinese socialist system to demanding its people “follow the party”. It has said it also has the final say over his successor, rejecting the Dalai Lama’s assertion that a non-profit institution set up by him would have the sole authority to do so.
Thursday’s embassy statement said China was “a unified multi-ethnic country where all ethnic groups maintain equal, united, mutually supportive, and harmonious relations.”
The aim of the recently passed unity law, it said, was to promote national unity and progress and prohibit acts that undermine national unity and create national division.
“Currently, Tibet’s economy is booming, society is harmonious and stable, people’s lives are constantly improving,” it said.