Multilateral Czechia

The symposium “Multilateral Czechia” will discuss the most current problems of international relations for this year, which Czech foreign policy must deal with in various areas of its operations and interests. The main theme remains the urgent question of the influence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine on the arrangement of forces within the European Union and NATO, but also their common future with the post-war Ukraine.

For that reason, our high-level panel will focus on a fundamental debate that is now being held across the entire transatlantic community: the debate on the question of whether the “East” will become the new centre of gravity in Europe. Our guests will examine this question from different perspectives, both by engaging in discussions with each other and the audience during an open debate. The main topic will be whether the Central and Eastern European states really have sufficient capacities and willpower to shift the focus of European politics to the east.  

The keynote speech will be delivered by our special guest Nathalie Tocci. In her speech and the following discussion with the audience, she will discuss the challenges of today’s war in Ukraine for the internal coherence and future prospects of the European Union.

The closed morning part of the symposium is dedicated to acute issues of Czech foreign policy. The closed roundtables will welcome representatives of the government, the journalist community, the academic sphere, and think-tanks, as well as political representatives. The discussed topics will include strategic communication of foreign policy, the activities of Czechia in Africa, the question of whether the unanimous vote in the EU provides advantages, and, last but not least, scenarios for ending Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

You are also invited to the discussion held on the eve of the main programme (working language: Czech), namely on Monday, May 15^th. It will include a presentation of the key publication Svět v proměnách (The World in Change) and a subsequent discussion.