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.

read more »

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. 

read more »

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.

read more »

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

read more »

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.

read more »

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.

read more »

Cato's Letter: The Illusions of European Integration

English Pages, 10. 6. 2013

read more »

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.

read more »

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.

read more »

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.

read more »