Czech Republic

On 1 July 2022, the Czech Republic took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months. Our office Directors in Brussels and Prague, Eva van de Rakt and Adéla Jurečková, analyse the priorities of and challenges facing the Czech EU Council Presidency.

Russia’s aggression threatens not just those states it sees as its enemies. It also threatens our life in peace, the guarantee of civic and human rights, freedom and democracy. None of these can be taken for granted, as Russia’s war is being waged against the very principles that lie at the heart of our community, writes Czechia's Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský.

What longer-term, environmentally sustainable measures can the Czech Republic introduce to break its dependence on Russian gas while ensuring that no one is left behind?

Hopes were high for a progressive turnaround after the populist previous government of Andrej Babiš. What is the balance sheet of the first steps of the new Czech government?

The year 2020 marks 25 years since the 4th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. This conference was a turning point: The Beijing Platform for Action, which defined twelve critical areas for the status of women and recommended steps to improve them.  

The non-profit organization Gender Studies is celebrating an incredible 30 years of existence and reflects on what has changed in Czech society from a gender perspective.

Environmental and climate policies are not in the spotlight of the winners of last weekend’s elections in Czechia. As right-wing coalitions are going to form a new government, rising energy prices and the starting climate transformation, combined with austerity policies, could cause social conflict and open the way for the renewal of progressive movements and parties. Socially sensitive modernisation should be one of the key points for their new agenda.

Following the recent parliamentary elections, many Czechs celebrated the opposition parties’ victory over the business magnate and incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. However, the new center-right governing coalition must be careful not to return to the previous status quo that helped Babiš to power eight years ago.

The current clashes over values are reflected even in works of Czech literature and capture the imagination of both living classics and the incoming generation of writers. Although ideological arguments primarily follow the liberal-conservative dividing line, the realm of literature also is familiar, especially inside the liberal opinion camp, with an inwardly oriented critique, or exaggerated narratives with highly ambivalent meanings.

The first in a series of essays dedicated to the phenomenon of what is known as the culture wars of Central Europe explains the concept in its original American context, as well as its shift to Europe. This kind of conflict, unlike a historical dispute or ideological debate, is primarily about power.