Commentary
Society
Wounds That Won’t Heal: Trauma, Power and Politics in Slovakia – COMMENTARY
16 May 2025
With Petr Pavel securing the Czech Presidential office in a runoff vote interpreted as a referendum on Czech foreign policy, we look back to the week-long State of Czechia foresight discussions to highlight what is next for Czech democracy, its place in Europe, and the defence system as such.
Visegrad Insight held a week-long conference and invited former politicians, experts, analysts, and leading journalists to discuss the current ‘State of Czechia’ with an outlook for the future in mind. The overarching idea was to put the debate on the future of Czechia in the context of the global struggle between democracy and autocracy with actual players behind (China, Russia, US, EU). It served to describe Czech dynamics in the larger context of Central Europe and the West.
With Petr Pavel securing the Czech Presidential position, a new era of Czech politics emerges, with a return of the spirit of decency and truth into the era of politics, beating out the cynic populism of Andrej Babiš. Looking specifically to three areas of the state of Czechia, we break down the major themes in Czechia’s role in Europe, its democracy, and its defence & security sector.
Czechia’s Role in Europe
The first panel revolved around one central question – why should Prague be the Leader of Central Europe in the EU? Our panellists were Jana Juzova (Europeum), Helena Truchla (Economia CZ) and Ondrej Houska (Hospodářské noviny), moderated by Wojciech Przybylski (Visegrad Insight).
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