CZECHIA or CHECHNYA? Are the Czech Politicians Losing their Mind?

Bohemia docta. The historical roots of science and scholarship in the Czech lands, 2018

The study is a part of the book which describes general development of Czech (Bohemian) and Czechoslovak scienctific and scholarly institutions beside universities. The chapter describes the development of Czech scholarly and scientific institutions and associations from the End of the 18th Century (time of the Enlightenment influence) up to 1882 (division of the Prague University into separated German and Czech universities). Special atention is paid to the proposal for an Bohemian Academy of Sciences set out by important biologist Jan Evangelista Purkyně (Purkinje).

2016

The article addresses the denominations of Local Action Groups (LAGs) in Czechia, contributing to the academic debate about the relationship between the formation of regions and regional identity, and about the forming of regions by means of regional marketing. On the basis of an analysis of appellations of 179 newly emerging regions the paper examine the substance of the symbolic shape of regions. It affirms the importance of territorial approach towards regional appellations and identify four different strategies of the approach held by regional actors to the process of identity formation and institutionalization of regions. It has equally been affirmed that region naming strategies are spatially fragmented. Nevertheless, the territorial differentiation of LAG regions mirrors the elementary spatial patterns traditionally reproduced in the Czech context, namely the west-east gradient of development Ievel, the distinction between historical lands and the difference between areas with continuous development and areas recolonized after WWII.

Drbohlav, D., Jaroszewicz, M.: Ukrainian Migration in Times of Crisis: Forced and Labour Mobility. Praha: Přírodovědecká fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 2016

2019

An overview of the Czech-Macedonian relations from the Middle Ages to the present day.

2019

An overview of the Czech-Croatian relations from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Czech Foreign Policy in 2017: Analysis, 2018

In 2017, the Czech European policy faced a number of challenges related to the great events of previous years (the migration crisis, Brexit, security policy, Eurozone reform) as well as the ongoing reflection process of the EU. Above all, the Czech approach was a typical example of reactive behaviour, and characteristic of responding to external stimuli coming from EU. There were also partial topics about which proactive assertions were made by the Czech Republic. The polarisation between the individual actors of foreign policy was low, though with some exceptions pertaining to the President of the Republic. In contrast, as regards politicisation, the European agenda was an example of a highly politicised area, which was crucially reflected also in domestic policy. The coherence of the Czech European policy can be referred to as problematic, as the Czech Republic was not able to make a substantial move in its main conceptual priorities, but only in partial areas. Finally, the predominantly critical tone of the Czech discussion on the EU had contributed to the Czech Republic's very low trust in the Union's policy, posing a threat to the fulfilment of the key goals of the Czech foreign policy.

The Czech Centre-Right Solutions to the Political Challenges of 2019, 2018

The state of the European border protection is currently unsatisfactory despite many improvements having been done. The main problems include the insufficient capacity in securing the Mediterranean marine border and the member states’ insistence on national competence in this area despite the clear shortfalls of this approach. Yet, the last three years witnessed a mobilization of political, administrative, and technical resources, and increased cooperation with third countries including Turkey and Libya. In the Schengen area, the external EU border is a shared border; the border of one EU member state is the external border of all EU member states. This requires joint external border management policy, sufficient financial resources and operational capacity. Czechia, together with Luxembourg, are the only EU countries which do not have an external EU border. Czechia is a heavily export-oriented country, directly dependent on the advantages of Schengen, whose future and sustainability depend on better security of the external border. Thus, it is in Czechia’s interest to provide help and support at a higher level than the current average. We need to keep in mind that the protection of the external border itself and more border patrols can neither replace European cooperation with third countries nor the need to seek member states’ consensus regarding the acceptance of rescued survivors and asylum seekers.

EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Prague, 2019

Reconciliation and good neighbourly relations are among the key priorities of the Stabilisation and Association Process of the Western Balkans and represent a necessary condition for the advancement of the countries of the region towards the EU. It has become clear that without launching a process supporting the dealing with the legacies of the past, filled with conflicts, violence, separation and mutual prejudices, the region will not be able to move forward from the limbo it is still stuck in, twenty years after the last violent conflict. Despite significant efforts and resources invested in the reconciliation in the Western Balkans by the EU through different platforms and tools, and the activities of civil society across the region, only relatively little progress has been achieved in this very complex and sensitive process. The sentiments and resentments against “the other” are still running high in the societies, providing easy opportunities for manipulation by nationalist political leaders. There is still a need for more regionally-owned initiatives and real implementation of the steps advancing the reconciliation process forward. A step in the right direction has been the establishment of Regional Youth Cooperation Council (RYCO), fostering the reconciliation and stability process with a specific focus on youth as a key actor in shaping of the future of the region, as well as the Western Balkans Fund (WBF), aimed at supporting regional grass-roots initiatives coming from the civil society and non-governmental sector. However, both institutions are still in the process of establishing themselves on the regional scene and remain too vulnerable to political influence, at times becoming hostage of bilateral disputes. For the purpose of identifying good practices but also less positive examples and lessons learned, applicable to the Western Balkan countries, five case studies analysing different bilateral relations were written: Poland-Germany, Czechia-Slovakia, Slovakia-Hungary, Hungary-Serbia, Serbia-Albania. The aim of these case studies was to provide the background for the given cases, identify good practices and also failures in reconciliation and normalization between countries and societies in their respective processes of dealing with the past, and draw lessons and recommendations for the Western Balkan countries on the basis of these analyses.