Speech of the President at the General Debate of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly

English Pages, 23. 9. 2011

Mr. Chairman, allow me to congratulate you on your election to the very important post of the highest representative of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Excellencies, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, a few days ago, the New York City and the entire world remembered the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11. I would like to use this opportunity to pay homage to all the victims, as well as to the firefighters and other rescue workers who died in connection with the 2001 attacks. We should not forget them.

read more »

The Serious Challenges Faced by the EU

English Pages, 22. 9. 2011

Mr. President, distinguished faculty members, students, thank you for inviting me to Guelph, to the University of Guelph, to Canada where – to my great regret – I have not been for seven years. In the past, I was here on an official visit, several times I attended various conferences, but my only other speech at a Canadian university was in February 1997 at the University of Toronto.

read more »

Climate Change: The Dangerous Faith (Sydney speech)

English Pages, 21. 9. 2011

Thank you for the invitation to come to Sydney and to speak about the so called global warming problem (or climate change problem as it becomes fashionable to call it these days). I was here last time ten years ago and I am pleased to see that this beautiful city has not yet been significantly damaged by the global warming, that the sea has not reached the famous Opera House, that the consequences of the melting of glaciers in Antarctica are not visible here.

read more »

Is Freedom in the Western World Guaranteed Today?

English Pages, 19. 9. 2011

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for the invitation to the CEI and for the opportunity to address this distinguished audience. I remember quite vividly my previous encounter with your Institute – a speech in May 2008 devoted to my Czech compatriot, great economist, Joseph Alois Schumpeter and his views about the end of capitalism.

read more »

The President's Endorsement of John Fonte’s book Sovereignty or Submission

English Pages, 30. 8. 2011

John Fonte accurately identifies the coalition of institutions, interests and individuals that are promoting global governance and convincingly argues against their attempts to undermine the democratic nation-state. Whatever formal structure it might have, a global government would, in effect, control our lives, with no possibility for us to exert any real influence on it. In such a world order, the concept of citizenship would rapidly become extinct.

read more »

Interview of the President for the Brazilian Weekly Época about the book Blue Planet in Green Shackles

English Pages, 18. 8. 2011

When did you decide to write Blue Planet in Green Shackles? When was the first time you felt that the freedom was in danger?

I entered the global warming debate in the middle of the last decade when I saw that the voice of the economists in the debate is almost entirely missing. I started to see the ideology of environmentalism as a problem already at the beginning of the 1970s in the context of the activities of the infamous Club of Rome and of its irresponsible catastrophic forecasts.

read more »

Threats to Freedom in the 21st Century: Perth Speech

English Pages, 31. 7. 2011

Many thanks for giving me the opportunity to be here today. In Perth and Western Australia I am for the first time but this is already my third stay in your country. My first visit took place in 1991, a short time after the fall of communism. The speeches I gave here at that time were devoted both to our very depressing experience with life under the old regime and to our endeavors – that were already under way – to make a better future.

read more »

Fiscal Disasters and Recoveries: Notes for the Coolum Panel

English Pages, 30. 7. 2011

It is neither a great discovery nor a courageous analytical insight to say that we live in an era of huge fiscal disasters and of very slow and unconvincing recoveries. It is a wide-spread phenomenon, not relevant for a small group of randomly chosen countries only, but it is not global. It is a Euro-American problem (and I don’t want to speculate whether Australia belongs to it or not). It certainly does not exist in Asia, Latin America or Africa.

read more »

Interview of the President of the Czech Republic for The Australian about global warming

English Pages, 21. 7. 2011

You have been an outspoken voice on the ideological aspects of the climate change debate. How much are current calls to cut carbon emissions politically motivated, inspired by a desire to harm industrialised economies and liberal democracies rather than motivated by a desire to assist the environment? Has climate action become a replacement for Communism and its variants for the activist political left to continue their battle against free market economics?

read more »

Notes for the Independence Day Speech 2011

English Pages, 30. 6. 2011

Mr. Ambassador, Dear Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me congratulate you on the 235th Day of Independence of the United States of America. I have been attending this traditional gathering for many years and it gives me always a great pleasure to meet so many Czech and American friends, so many Czechs and Americans who contribute to the friendly relations between our two countries.

read more »