NEWS

The spring of 2004 was momentous in the history of independent Slovakia. On May 1st of that year, the country joined the EU. Coming as it did less than five weeks after Slovakia joined NATO, this marked the culmination of a long process that was highly uncertain in the 1990s. A decade later, we can now reflect on what enabled Slovakia to join these European and trans- Atlantic structures, and how the subsequent integration has fared.

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.