NEWS

Rasťo Kužel, Executive Director of Memo 98, delivered the 2023 Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture on November 17, 2023 at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington, D.C. Mr. Kužel discussed importance of free and fair elections for democracy in light of the recent outcomes in Slovakia and Poland and ahead of the US races in 2024.

Miloslav Stašek, current Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States, delivered the 2022 Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture on November 15, 2022 at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, DC. Ambassador Stašek discussed the current conflict in Ukraine and its devastating impact on peace and stability in Europe and beyond.

Current and former directors of Friends of Slovakia, along with spouses and special guests, celebrated the 20th anniversary of FOS on November 17, 2021, at a dinner at the Slovak Embassy in Washington, D.C. hosted by Ambassador Radovan Javorčík. Earlier in the day, Beata Balogová, editor-in-chief of the Slovak daily SME, delivered the 2021 Czech […]

FOS Board of Advisors member and Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Dr. Pavol Demeš gave the Annual Thomas Kukucka Lecture at the University of Pittsburgh as a part of the  Slovak Studies Program.

Dr. Tomáš Cihlář, an internationally recognized Czech biochemist, delivered the Annual Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture on November 18, 2020. His lecture was entitled “The Role of Czech and International Scientists in the Fight Against the Pandemic” and focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and global efforts to combat it.

Ivan Korčok, recently the Slovak Ambassador to the U.S., has been appointed Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic in the cabinet of the new Slovak government led by Prime Minister Igor Matovič. The February 29 parliamentary elections saw the rise of Matovič’s OLaNO party, which was able to form a new governing coalition with three other parties. In the course of selecting positions in the cabinet, the SAS party headed by Richard Sulík, chose Amb. Korčok as Foreign Minister, even though he is not a member of SAS. He will serve as an independent member of the cabinet.

This year, 2019, represents the 100th anniversary of the death of one of the most important figures in the history of Slovakia, Milan Rastislav Štefánik.  On May 4, the anniversary was commemorated with a talk by researcher Kevin J. McNamara of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, who discussed “Six Events that Made Milan Stefanik a […]

On May 4th, Ambassador Ted Russell (Ret.) spoke at the Slovak Embassy about his experiences as Deputy Chief of Mission in Czechoslovakia during and after the 1989 Velvet Revolution. He also spoke about his role as the first U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia after the 1993 Velvet Divorce. During his speech, he discussed the involvement of […]

Dr. Leff gave a talk on April 21 about the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968 and the impact of Czechoslovak institutional relations. She discussed the federalization that survived the Prague Spring and how it influenced events in 1989 and the Velvet Divorce. Dr. Leff also talked about the roles of Dubček, Husák, and Biľak in […]

On November 13, 2017, Pavol Demeš, a renowned Slovak expert on international relations and civil society, gave a talk titled “Slovakia and the United States: The Ties that Bind” at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Washington D.C. The event was co-sponsored by Friends of Slovakia (FOS) and the Slovak Republic Embassy. The audience […]