NEWS

The Friends of Slovakia, together with The Embassy of the Slovak Republic to the United States, The American Friends of the Czech Republic, and The Embassy of the Czech Republic to the United States, co-organized the 2024 Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture on November 14th in Washington, DC, hosted by the Hudson Institute. Titled “The […]

On November 14, 2024, the Hudson Institute, in partnership with the Friends of Slovakia, American Friends of the Czech Republic (AFOCR) and the Embassies of the Czech and Slovak Republics, hosted the 25th annual Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture. Titled “The Future: On Energy, Change, Innovation, and Democracy,” the lecture featured Senator Miroslav Bárta, a […]

Just three days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, Jana Rajcová, a Bratislava-based photographer, felt compelled to use her documentary photography skills to make a difference. FOS is sponsoring the project’s first solo US exhibition at the National Czech and Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids. The exhibit opens on September 19, 2024 and will run through January 26, 2025, marking a significant milestone in Rajcová’s journey as she brings her perspective on Ukrainian refugees to the American Midwest.

Katarína Cséfalvayová  & Simon Panek delivered the 2019 Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture on November 13, 2019. This special double-lecture event lecture was entitled “30 Years of Czech and Slovak Freedom,” commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which saw the return of freedom and democracy to both countries on November 17, 1989. Katarína […]

On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, a forum titled Velvet @ 30: A Legacy to Uphold was held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The forum was co-sponsored by the Czech and Slovak Embassies in collaboration with Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.  The event featured welcoming remarks by Joel Hellman, Dean of the Walsh […]

FOS Board members and others in the Washington foreign policy and Slovak-interest communities participated in a roundtable featuring former Slovak Ambassador Martin Bútora and his spouse, sociologist Dr. Zora Bútorová.  The ambassadorial couple served in Washington, DC from 1999-2003 and had a significant impact on Slovak-U.S. relations, as well as opening Slovakia’s new embassy building […]

On September 23, 2019 the Center for European Policy Analysis held its annual ‘CEPA Forum’ in Washington DC entitled, Transatlantic Anniversaries: Legacies and Unfinished Business.  FOS, as it has for several years, served as a co-sponsor of this prestigious event, which represents the major U.S. policy forum focusing on Central and Eastern Europe.  Among the speakers […]

At a conference held on July 17-18 in Washington, the Atlantic Council, a major U.S.-based foreign policy think tank, and GLOBSEC, a Bratislava-based security and foreign policy think tank, announced a collaboration to address current issues focusing on the central European region. At the two-day conference entitled, The United States and Central Europe: Celebrating Europe […]

On July 11, 2019 members of the Friends of Slovakia (FOS) Executive Committee met with Ambassador Brink at the State Department in Washington DC to get acquainted and discuss her plans for the new post. The White House announced in March 2019 that President Trump had nominated Bridget Brink, a career foreign service diplomat, to […]

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 fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 had a significant impact on Eastern Europe’s political scene. In Czechoslovakia, the Communist regime was replaced by a democratic revolution, which was led by student movements and dissidents. November 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, a non-violent transition of power with demonstrations against the […]

At the FOS Annual Meeting on February 15th, 2019 election for the Board of Directors was held and the slate of Officers and Executive Committee were appointed. FOS saw transitions, with three new members added and three members, in addition to Amb. Russell and Mr. Senko, departing. The new members welcomed to the Board are […]

Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák has selected Friends of Slovakia (FOS) Founding Chairman, Amb. Theodore Russell, and  Board Chairman, Joseph Senko to receive the prestigious Golden Medal of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.  The medals were presented to the two recipients on February 15, 2019 by Slovak Ambassador Ivan […]