The Message from a Non-Young Leader to Future Young Leaders

English Pages, 19. 8. 2013

Many thanks for the invitation. I take it as a very precious gift to have once again the opportunity to visit your beautiful country and especially Ohrid. I was delighted when my good friend, President Ivanov, asked me to address this special young audience, the future leaders of your country.

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Eastern Europe between Stagnation in the West and Rapid Growth in the East

English Pages, 21. 6. 2013

I was invited to talk here about Eastern Europe but I have to start by announcing a small definitional problem. As someone who spent his whole life in Prague, in this truly geographical centre of Europe, I have a certain reluctance to use the term Eastern Europe without at least briefly expressing my doubts on it.

When looking at the map, Prague is located west of Vienna and is closer to Copenhagen or Brussels than to Sarajevo or Kiev.

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Cato's Letter: The Illusions of European Integration

English Pages, 10. 6. 2013

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The Adam Smith Lecture at Pembroke College: Smithian Inspirations and Their Difficult Fate in Central Europe

English Pages, 25. 4. 2013

I take it as a great honour to be invited to deliver this year’s Adam Smith Lecture here at Pembroke College. It is an honour for me both for this lecture’s connection with the great, if not the greatest name in social sciences and economics in history (which Adam Smith undoubtedly is) and for the distinguished speakers who were chosen to deliver this lecture in the past two years.

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Europe, Its Problems, and Russia in the 21st Century

English Pages, 18. 4. 2013

As someone coming here from a small Central European country, which means from Europe, from this rather problematic region which is not in a rosy, stable and promising state these days, I don’t feel I am in a position to give advice to anyone anywhere in the world, including Russia.

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Hayek’s Conference at the University of Richmond: Hayek and My Life

English Pages, 12. 4. 2013

Many thanks for giving me a chance to address this distinguished audience. This is my first visit to the University of Richmond and, if I am not mistaken, my first stay in the state of Virginia as well. Some of you may know that I am enjoying the first days and weeks of my post-political life. A month ago, I completed my second term as the President of the Czech Republic and it means – with a very high degree of probability – an end to my political carrier, which started in the moment of the fall of communism in November 1989.

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BBC World Service: Václav Klaus reflecting on Margaret Thatcher

English Pages, 9. 4. 2013

Former Czech President Václav Klaus reflecting on former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher "She was one of the greatest politicians of our time, in the Czech republic she was our hero."

Audio inside.

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The Václav Klaus Institute's Public Statement: Cyprus crisis and its unprecedented solution

English Pages, 21. 3. 2013

Three days after the entry of Cyprus into the European Union – on May 3, 2004 – the delegation of the President of the Czech Republic arrived on a state visit to Cyprus and was met with euphoria, facing declarations and slogans such as “We are in Europe”, “We have entered Europe”. We tried to explain, they were “only” in the European Union, because one can enter a man-made institution, such as the EU, but not a continent. It can’t be “entered”.

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Notes for Cato speech

English Pages, 11. 3. 2013

Many thanks for organizing this gathering. I am glad to be again here, in Cato, where I have many friends. I highly appreciate the role Cato Institute has played in the last decades in defending freedom, free markets, and limited government. This is a special moment for me. On Thursday, my second term as President of the Czech Republic expired and on Friday, the new President was inaugurated.

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Opening Statement of the President at the Farewell Meeting with the Heads of Diplomatic Missions

English Pages, 21. 2. 2013

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you here most sincerely. Thank you for joining us at this small ceremony at the end of my presidential mandate. It has been an honor for me to serve as the President of the Czech Republic for the past ten years. I can assure you that my meetings with you and your predecessors belonged to my pleasant duties, and not only duties, I learned a lot as well. It is a memory I will always cherish.

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