NEWS

Join Friends of Slovakia (FOS) at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library (NCSML) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a momentous Economic Summit on Thursday and Friday, May 2-3, 2024. This unique forum, co-organized by the FOS, will bring together delegations from the USA, Czech Republic, and Slovakia to discuss the consequences of modern […]

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.

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.

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 […]

The German Marshall Fund organized a roundtable discussion on September 21, 2018, in Washington, DC, titled “Trends in Central Europe: Addressing Liberal Democracy.” The former Slovak Ambassador to the U.S., Rastislav Káčer, who served from 2003-2008, was the main speaker at the event. Currently, Amb. Káčer is the Chairman of GLOBSEC, a non-governmental organization that […]

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 […]

Former U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia and Friends of Slovakia Board of Advisors member Tod Sedgwick gave a fascinating luncheon presentation on “How Cleveland Played a Crucial Role in U.S. Diplomacy in Central Europe” on September 26, 2017. Ambassador Sedgwick gave a brief overview of the history of Slovak emigration to the U.S. He described why […]

On January 28, 2016, Friends of Slovakia co-sponsored the opening of an exhibition of unique photos commemorating the Holocaust entitled “Last Folio”. The opening event was held at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. in cooperation with the Embassy of Slovakia and the Embassy of Canada. The exhibit is open to the public until […]