NEWS

The Friends of Slovakia is pleased to introduce five scholars studying at the Fund for American Studies (TFAS) this summer. The scholars included Barbora Bodnárová (TFAS’s Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems), Katarína Mináriková (Institute on Business and Government Affairs), Adam Šebesta (Institute on Political Journalism), and Ivana Smoleňová and Alena Čierna (both […]

The 2014 Scholars were welcomed to Washington with an informal reception on June 15. Hosted by Board member Scott Thayer and his wife Nena amidst their gardens and ponds, the reception also benefited from unseasonably comfortable weather. The Scholars celebrated the end of their first week of classes while enjoying Slovak beer and international nibbles […]

On June 15, 2014, businessman and philanthropist Andrej Kiska was inaugurated as the fourth president of independent Slovakia. Unlike his three predecessors, Kiska never joined the Communist Party and has not been a member of any political party. Kiska is the first Slovak president who was elected as an independent candidate, without party support. Although […]

Michael Žantovský, a distinguished Czech politician, writer, and diplomat, delivered the 2013 Czech and Slovak Annual Freedom Lecture titled “The Uncertainty of Freedom, and the Freedom of Uncertainty” at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. on November 12.

Martin Bútora, who served as the Slovak ambassador to the United States from 1999 to 2003 and was one of the key figures behind the Freedom Lecture Series, delivered the 2012 Annual Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture on November 16. A capacity crowd filled the Woodrow Wilson Center auditorium to hear his reflections on “20 Years of Independence: Reflections on Freedom and Democracy.” Following the lecture, Joe Senko, the Chairman of Friends of Slovakia, and Ted Russell, the Founding Chairman Ambassador presented Ambassador Bútora with the FOS Medal of Honor. Tom Dine, the President of American Friends of the Czech Republic, then presented the speaker with a Certificate of Appreciation.

Slovakia has made significant progress in transitioning from being part of a socialist, pro-Soviet republic to an independent, democratic nation. However, there is still much hard work ahead, as highlighted in the 2010 Annual Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture by Prime Minister Iveta Radičová.

On February 11, 2005, a significant forum on visa issues in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) was organized on Capitol Hill by the East Europe Project at CSIS, together with Friends of Slovakia (FOS) and American Friends of the Czech Republic (AFoCR). The meeting aimed to address the impact of current U.S. visa regulations on political and public relations with the CEE countries. Forum panelists and experts shed light on the legal intricacies of the visa issue and its implications for U.S.-CEE relations, urging for a reconsideration of the status quo.