The War in Ukraine as a Prelude to a Multipolar World

English Pages, 7. 6. 2025

Let me, more or less, continue my speech here several days ago. I discussed recent changes in the world and mentioned the Ukraine war as one of the most tragic, most inexcusable and most indefensible events of our time. My main point in this context is that it did not fall unexpectedly from the sky. It was a long time in the making and the world – the international institutions, governments, and all of us – failed to prevent it. This is my – probably debatable – starting point.

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Václav Klaus from the Hillsdale College Cruise: Recent Changes in the World, in Europe, and in the U.S. as Seen from Prague

English Pages, 29. 5. 2025

Let me begin by greeting all of you and by expressing my hope that you’re enjoying the cruise as much as I am. My personal attitude toward being at sea is very simple. I have spent my entire life in the Czech Republic, in a land-locked country located in the very heart of Europe, and because of that, any opportunity to be at sea is something special and extraordinary for me. For the first decades of my life – more than half of it – I lived in the semi-closed communist country. Traveling abroad, let alone to the sea, was a rare privilege. That is why I feel obliged to enjoy the sea whenever there is a chance.

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Small States, Big Impact – Navigating Global Challenges through Collaborative Multilateralism

English Pages, 21. 5. 2025

Many thanks for inviting me to participate in this discussion. Its title implies that small states can have big impact. I am not sure about this. I am someone who comes from a “small state”, which means from a state which has always been insufficiently able to influence the events behind its borders and – similarly – insufficiently able to block foreign interventions within our borders. I suppose Macedonians have the same or a very similar experience.

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Václav Klaus in Skopje: "Cultural Diplomacy or Just Diplomacy?"

English Pages, 20. 5. 2025

Many thanks for the invitation to participate in the Skopje Cultural Diplomacy Forum 2025. I am grateful to be here. This is already my sixth visit of Macedonia. I was here only as a politician, never as a tourist, which is, because of the well-known beauties of your country, my fault. For the first time I was here in 2004 attending the funeral of the tragically deceased President Trajkovski. I will never forget the solemn and deeply respectful atmosphere that prevailed at the funeral. My last visit here was in 2022 when speaking at the School for Young Leaders in Ohrid, organized by my good friend President Ivanov. Seeing Ohrid is always unforgettable. 

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Türkiye as a Pillar of Stability in the Troubled Waters of the Current Era

English Pages, 8. 5. 2025

Dear Dr. Suver, Distinguished Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Many thanks for inviting me to the 28th Eurasian Economic Summit, for bringing me back to Turkey and for giving me the floor in this already traditional final session of the Marmara Forum. Most of us who live in Europe don’t often have the opportunity to attend an authentic Euro-Asian or Asia-European Forum. We are, therefore, especially pleased to be here. Inter-regional and intercultural dialogue is essential, as we live in an era which is more and more characterized by monologues. We should not only speak, but listen as well.

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Notes for the Launch of the Book “In Defence of Normalcy”

English Pages, 16. 4. 2025

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for joining us for the launch of my new book, a collection of recent speeches and articles, I delivered abroad over the last three years. It follows a similar collection which was published at the beginning of 2023 under the title “Brave New West: Is It Avoidable?”.

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Can We Avoid Wasting the Unique Opportunity Offered to Us by Trump’s Presidency?

English Pages, 7. 3. 2025

I don’t intend to analyse and critically evaluate the details of Trump’s policies announced or introduced in the first days and weeks of his presidency. Their overall impact and their implicit side effects are much more relevant. And that is very positive, at least in my view. Because Trump has been doing it in his special style, this style receives undue attention, much bigger than the content. Partly correctly, partly incorrectly. His way of doing politics is, of course, unimaginable in Europe, but we are not Americans, and we don’t have American traditions and a majoritarian electoral system. As I see it, Trump has started a new era of international politics which is much more important.

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Václav Klaus: Notes for Munich 2025

English Pages, 13. 2. 2025

The organizer of this gathering Shafik Gabr, the friend of many of us, sent me in advance two difficult but important questions which should be addressed here this evening: Will the war on Ukraine territory end in 2025 and what will be the impact of Trump’s tariff policy on global trade?

I am not an omniscient oracle, so I am able to present only my modest, cautiously formulated answers.

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Notes for the Golden Arrow 2025 Award Ceremony

English Pages, 28. 1. 2025

It is an honour and at a same time, especially in this case, a pleasure to be chosen to introduce this year’s Golden Arrow laureate Boris Tadić. This award has been given in the last two decades to many individuals in various spheres of life for their outstanding achievements. In my field, in politics, this award was given to such extraordinary world personalities as Frederik de Klerk, former President of South Africa, or Shimon Peres, President of Israel. And Boris Tadić no doubt belongs to this group.

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Notes for Vienna: “Building Bridges in a Divided Society”

English Pages, 24. 1. 2025

Many thanks for giving me the floor, regardless of the fact that I am not an expert on building bridges. Therefore, just a tentative note. An economist, turned politician, should be asked to speak about other topics, in which he has comparative advantage.

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