The Irreplaceable and Unsubstitutable Importance of Freedom

English Pages, 29. 11. 2013

Thank you for bringing me back to Mexico and even more for honoring me with the ”Una vida por la libertad” award. Getting the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago and your very high award here today is an enormous pleasure and honor for me.

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The post-communist transition should not be misinterpreted

English Pages, 6. 11. 2013

I read with great interest Dalibor Roháč’s article (Roháč 2013) in the February 2013 issue of Economic Affairs. This topic is worth discussing.

Economists behave rationally when they look for major economic events because for them they are an alternative to controlled experiments in natural sciences.

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Czech Republic and Poland: Neighbours! And Friends!

English Pages, 30. 10. 2013

Mr. Rector, Professors, Students, Ladies and Gentleman,

Thank you for the invitation to visit your well-known University and for giving me a chance to speak here today. It is a great honour for me to address this distinguished academic audience. I am sorry for not being able – due to my unexpected illness – to come here four weeks ago at the beginning of your new academic year. It was really not possible.

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Europe and America: Our Common Crisis

English Pages, 11. 10. 2013

Mr. President, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Many thanks for the invitation to come to Hillsdale again, after long 13 years. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address such a distinguished audience this evening. You may not be aware of it, but during these 13 years, I was, more or less, all the time in touch with your college

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Notes for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Award Speech

English Pages, 9. 10. 2013

Thank you very much for this very high award, for the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom. I am deeply honoured by it. I am also very moved by the list of the very distinguished names of those personalities who received this award in the past.

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Is There a Universal Quest for Liberty?

English Pages, 28. 9. 2013

Thank you for bringing me back to the United States, back to California, back to CATO and for giving me such a generous space here tonight. I’d like to use this opportunity to thank you once again for the great honor, for the status of “distinguished senior fellow”, you conferred upon me this March, in the moment when I – after ten years – left the beautiful Prague Castle and with the castle also my presidential duties.

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Conservative Renewal Conference 2013: Renewal or Return?

English Pages, 14. 9. 2013

Thank you very much for inviting me to attend this interesting, important and very timely gathering and for giving me a chance to speak here this morning. As you know I spent most of my life in a very non-conservative communist regime which was based on a totally different set of ideas than of the British Conservative Party.

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Remarks for the Saxo Bank Conference on Europe: No Illusions about the EU

English Pages, 13. 9. 2013

Many thanks for the organization of this important gathering and for giving me the chance of speaking here. I am motivated to be here, because I am convinced that we are approaching one of the crucial moments of European history. I suppose most of you came for the same reason. We know that not Europe but the European Union is a problem to worry about. 

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Democrats of Europe, wake up!

English Pages, 8. 9. 2013

Prominent media both in our country (Lidové noviny, 4th September 2013) and in the world have published the declaration by Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the infamous anarchist and fighter at the barricades of Paris in 1968, and by Felix Marquardt.  They are co-founders of the movement Europeans Now, the so-called Young Europeans: "Unite!" This catchphrase is a deliberate rephrasing of Marx's Communist Manifesto and its appeal "Workers of the world, unite!" and it clearly points in the same direction.

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Lars Christensen: Merkel’s lack of vision is the Achilles’ heel of Europe

English Pages, 3. 9. 2013

I have met a number of politicians over the years, but lately it has dawned on me that very few of them are seriously prepared to stand up for their beliefs, if indeed they have any.

I can just about recall a time long ago when things seemed slightly different; nowadays, politics is all about solving day-to-day problems and following opinion polls on what voters are prepared to tolerate, rather than leadership and fundamental personal integrity

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