Soviet Communism Is Over, What About Freedom?

English Pages, 10. 11. 2017

It is, or it at least should be, evident that we didn´t come here to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of one of the most important – and in its disastrous and ruinous consequences one of the most evil – events of the 20^th century, the Great October Socialist Revolution, as we used to call it when I was attending elementary school in Prague. We came here to commemorate it. This should be made explicit. There are still places nowadays where this event is being celebrated.

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Economic (and Political) Transformation in the Czech Republic

English Pages, 19. 10. 2017

Many thanks for the invitation, many thanks for organizing your gathering in Prague (and in the Czech Republic), not just because of its historical beauty (luckily not destroyed in wars or by ambitions of all kinds of city planners), but because it has some exceptional specifics:

- Prague is really the heart of Europe – not only geographically but culturally as well;

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Rhodos, Social Mobility and Migration: A Fundamental Disagreement

English Pages, 9. 10. 2017

I am sorry to be forced to say very brutally at the very beginning of my today´s presentation that I don’t agree with almost every sentence in the “notes for the panel” prepared and sent us in advance (as well as with the introductory statements of the moderators). Both are explicit pro-migration stances.

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Science in the Age of Post-Democracy: A Few Tentative Remarks

English Pages, 20. 8. 2017

Many thanks for the invitation and for offering me the possibility to participate in the debate about “Structural Problems in Contemporary Science” so well introduced in Prof. Lindzen´s invitation letter. My approach to this issue builds on several, to some respect unique and not easily repeatable pieces of my own experience.

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Toruń Speech: Is it possible for Central and Eastern European states to preserve their identity in the European Union?

English Pages, 12. 8. 2017

Your Magnificence Mdm. Rector, Professors, Students, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be for the first time in your beautiful historic city and it is a great honour for me to receive the highest award of your University – the Jagiellonian Prize. I take it – as a Czech – very seriously.

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Useful Strategies? Whose Strategies?

English Pages, 8. 7. 2017

There is a problem with the term “strategies”. Are we a gathering of economists or of political strategists? I don´t know any institution I would be motivated to give advice to. And I suppose there is – symmetrically – no institution waiting for my advice.

The time has come to return economics back to science in the old sense. Giving advice and suggesting strategies have undermined its credibility. It, of course, started with Keynes.

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The statement of Václav Klaus and IVK on the unacceptable treatment of the Czech Republic by the European Union

English Pages, 16. 6. 2017

1. We – as a matter of principle and quite resolutely – protest against the decision of the EU to launch infringement procedures against the Czech Republic, in connection with its refusal to accept migrants on the basis of Brussels-dictated quotas. We protest against the intentions to punish us and force us into obedience.

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Will Trumps's Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords Weaken Climate Alarmism?

English Pages, 16. 6. 2017

I consider President Trump's decision to pull out from the Paris accords extraordinarily courageous and, in a certain sense, historical. And for me personally just amazing. Evaluating the impact and consequences of this decision is however far from simple and one-dimensional.

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Welcome Address at the American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery in Prague

English Pages, 2. 6. 2017

Dear participants, ladies and gentlemen, let me use this opportunity for welcoming you in Prague. It is a pleasure and honour to be asked to speak here this morning.

I am glad that Prague was selected as a hosting city of your important gathering. I do believe that this meeting will be successful, productive and pleasant.

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New Threats that the MPS Should Deal with

English Pages, 8. 5. 2017

It is great to be in Korea again and to have a chance to see not just the economic statistics but to look at the reality of a rapid economic and social development which this country has achieved in the last decades. I was here last time in 2009 in a very special capacity – chairing the EU-Korea summit in the moment when the Czech Republic performed the fictitious role of a rotating EU would-be presidency.

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