The St. Adalbert Conferences have long been devoted to the issue of closer cooperation between the countries of the Central European area. The annual conference is devoted to a different aspect of Central European cooperation. The change, we are facing together, is not dissimilar in its impact to the situation ten centuries ago, when the basic map of the organization of Europe was being created. In Central and Eastern Europe at that time, the process of building national states was directly connected with non-violent christianization linked by the personality of St. Adalbert, whose legacy appeals to us even after a thousand years.
On the eve of the conference, the presentation of the St. Adalbert Award (Pretium Sancti Adalberti) is also held every year, with which the association Patrimonium Sancti Adalberti expresses recognition to personalities for their exceptional contribution to the strengthening of Central European traditions and values. At the end of each conference, its participants address the public and the political representatives of their countries in order to strive for the deepening of such cooperation.
2025
"CENTRAL EUROPE ON ITS OWN PATH"
October 24 - 26, 2025, OREA Hotel Pyramida (Prague, Czech Republic)
The global political situation in recent months has given observers an experience comparable only to a roller-coaster ride. We speak of a turbulent era. Perhaps it is worth clarifying what this term actually means. It is neither coincidence nor chaos; it denotes a deliberate shift from a unipolar model of world governance to a multipolar one. In a unipolar world, the United States acted as the hegemon, while the West – especially the G7 countries – went along with this arrangement. The most important institutions around us, such as the EU and NATO, were instruments of this old model of governance. Now that world governance is changing, it is logical that these institutions must also undergo transformation, which for us represents both a threat and an opportunity.
Our task is to navigate this situation swiftly and deliberately, and to draw from it the greatest possible benefit for our nations. Today, two Europes have become a reality: Western Europe and Central – or Central and South-Eastern – Europe. The former relies on multiculturalism, boundless diversity as an end in itself, the Green Deal and de-industrialisation. Our part of Europe seeks to preserve its cultural code, Christianity and the legacy of antiquity, to safeguard our nations and the traditional family, and to produce and prosper. In other words, Central Europe wishes to follow its own path.
For this path, a plan must be prepared – one that will, among other things, ensure more effective shared economic development. We do not wish to devise new or exotic concepts. Rather, we want to develop and complete the ideas that were present at the birth of the EU but were never fully implemented: a Central Europe of nation-states that jointly pursue what they themselves desire and what is advantageous for them – and that do not, under pressure, act against their own will.
2024
"CENTRAL EUROPE AT THE CROSSROADS"
October 25 - 27, 2024, OREA Hotel Pyramida (Prague, Czech Republic)
The time when changes in the global world took place somehow in the background, so-called behind the curtain, is over. From now on, the changes in the setting of the world order are beginning to be generally visible, and it is necessary to react directly and visibly to them.
The existence of two distinct parts of Europe became a reality.
One part, especially to the west of our borders, is multicultural, progressive and considers its main task to solve the so-called climate change and the rights of various minorities, including LGBT+ communities, and is connected to the process of drastic deindustrialization of Europe.
The second part, especially in our broader Central European area, does not want to give up its national identity, Christian cultural roots, the idea of a nation state, traditional values, e.g. classic family model, and wants not only to produce, but also to survive in global economic competition.
The world is becoming more dangerous, less predictable and divided. The old order turns into chaos. Old alliances are falling apart and new ones are forming. Thus, the only certainty remains only the national state, which is based on belonging, solidarity and coherence, capable of helping its citizens to overcome this difficult period.
That is why we say that we are now at a crossroads. Either we will realistically defend our interests, or we will simply disappear from the map. The conference in 2024 focused mainly on security threats, mutual economic cooperation and, last but not least, also on the role that the countries of the wider Central European area have to play in a changing world.
2023
"FUTURE OF THE CENTRAL EUROPE"
October 13 - 15, 2023, OREA Hotel Pyramida (Prague, Czech Republic)
The 2023 conference reflected in particular the fact that in the changing global order of the current world there is no alternative to closer cooperation between the countries of the Central European area.
Therefore, Central Europeans should not just wait for the outcome of the agreement of the great powers about a new world order, but should take the initiative at this moment and actively participate themselves in the process of defining and politically shaping the geopolitical space in which they live.
The discussion within the conference working groups focused on the following themes: The basic building block of Central European cooperation are nation states. For their healthy formation, it is necessary to renew national economic thinking, launch joint infrastructure projects and foster a pro-population policy, which alone testifies to the healthy development of society.
2022
"SAINT ADALBERT AND THE CENTRAL EUROPE"
June 10 - 12, 2022, OREA Hotel Pyramida (Prague, Czech Republic)
The first year of the international conference "Saint Adalbert and the Central Europe" was held under the patronage of H. Em. Archbishop Cardinal Duka in June 2022 in Prague, with the participation of representatives of six Central European countries, namely the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and Serbia.
Laureate of the St. Adalbert Award (Pretium Sancti Adalberti)for 2022 was Vladimír Palko, the Slovak mathematician and former Minister of the Interior of Slovakia, who presented his keynote address "Power and its Temptations".
The international conference itself was mainly devoted to the question of the common values of the countries of the wider Central European area, in which the basic identifying stone is the values brought by Christianity.