UBS Gala Dinner Speech

English Pages, 10. 5. 2015

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me to be with you this evening, thank you for choosing Prague for your annual gathering and thank you for organizing your gala dinner at the Prague Castle. I was very privileged to spend ten years here, in this beautiful place, in this unique complex of historic buildings.

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Notes for a Speech in Baku to the Russia-West Relations

English Pages, 29. 4. 2015

Thank you for inviting me to attend the 3^rd Baku Forum and for including me in this panel. I find its topic highly relevant. With the exception of the present Middle East problem, so vividly demonstrated by the sudden appearance of the Islamic state and all its atrocities, the deteriorating West-East or, perhaps, Western Europe and America and Russia relations represent the most dangerous development we are confronted with just now, especially we in Central and Eastern Europe.

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The Visible Defects of the Ideology of Universalism

English Pages, 13. 4. 2015

Many thanks for the invitation to this important gathering and for including me in the presidential panel of – as you put it – “sagacious men”. This adjective is – at least as regards myself – an evident overstatement. Moreover, in the “brave new world” of European political correctness it would be considered wrong to speak about men only.

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Milano Speech: Looking at Europe and Its Stagnating Economy from Prague

English Pages, 13. 3. 2015

Thank you for the invitation and for giving me an opportunity to address this distinguished audience.

My last speech in this historic city was six years ago when I was presenting the Italian version of my book devoted to the economic critique of the global warming doctrine. I challenged in it the very shaky economic foundations of this mistakenly considered non-economic, non-social science doctrine.

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Václav Klaus: Interview for Global Gold

English Pages, 25. 2. 2015

Mr. Klaus it’s a great honor and pleasure to be here and have this opportunity to interview one of the key shapers of the Czech Republic as it is today. The first time I actually saw you speak in person was at the “Gottfried von Haberler-Conference” last year, where you rightfully criticized a Canadian politician or diplomat after his speech due to his strong pro-government arguments, which you disproved using classical liberal arguments. 

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Introduction to the Fraser Institute's book „The Essential Hayek“

English Pages, 17. 2. 2015

Those of us born in the 20^th century—the century of two destructive world wars and two equally ruinous periods of Nazism and Communism—particularly those of us born during the Second World War and who spent four decades under Communism, who to understand what was going on, and who eventually had the courage to try to change it, had always been looking for a compass that would make possible some elementary orientation in life.

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Munich Speech: Looking at Europe from Prague Which Recently Celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Fall of Communism

English Pages, 16. 2. 2015

Thank you for inviting me to come to Munich after a relatively long time and for giving me an opportunity to speak here tonight. Last time I made a speech in this city was in May 2009 in the moment of the culmination of my fight with the Lisbon Treaty, which I considered then and consider now – with the benefit of hindsight – an important component in a series of wrong steps towards economically unproductive and politically undemocratic European arrangements.

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Notes for Vienna 2015 Com.Sult Congress: It Is Time to Look at the Ukrainian Crisis in a Broader Context

English Pages, 20. 1. 2015

When I was asked by David Ungar-Klein to speak here today on Ukraine, I hesitated. My knowledge of Ukraine is rather limited and I don´t pretend to be an expert on this sorely tried country. I am not someone who follows the day by day developments there. I also know that my views on that topic are against the mainstream and that they would not be much welcome. I know as well that there are real experts on Ukraine here in this audience (not only foreign observers but insiders), President Yushchenko being one of them.

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Communism’s Comeback?

English Pages, 5. 12. 2014

In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, we are currently remembering the 25th anniversary of the fall of Communism.Communism, one of the most irrational, oppressive, cruel and inefficient political systems in history, ceased to exist suddenly and relatively quietly. It fell simultaneously in Central and Eastern Europe, and a little later in the Soviet Union too, in spite of the many differences among the countries of the former Soviet bloc.

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Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic - The Spirit and Main Contours of the Postcommunist Transformation

English Pages, 24. 11. 2014

The topic “a quarter of a century after the transition from communism” is very relevant and deserves to be openly and seriously discussed. We policy makers very strongly believe that, in the context of developments in both our own countries and in Europe overall.

I have a personal interest in keeping alive awareness, as well as understanding, of the unique era of the fall of communism (and, in many respects, of its unrepeatable tasks).

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