Under the auspices of Tomáš Jirsa, the seminar "Central Europe at the Crossroads" was held in the Senate

Source: Patrimonium Sancti Adalberti (CZ) – On the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 2024, a seminar was held in the Senate premises of the S-club in the Kolovrat Palace on the Lesser Side, under the auspices of the Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of the Senate of the Czech Republic Tomáš Jirsa (ODS) entitled "Central Europe at the Crossroads".

Alvino-Mario Fantini, an American expert in political philosophy and international relations, a long-time collaborator of the Wall Street Journal in Brussels, a member of the board of directors of the Center for the Renewal of Europe and editor-in-chief of the quarterly The European Conservative, greeted the senators at the beginning. He placed the whole debate in the context of ongoing global changes and a certain value crisis in which the West currently finds itself.

The axis of the presentation was the publication "Saint Adalbert and Central Europea", which was published by the Czech association Patrimonium Sancti Adalberti in 2021 and the conclusions of the international conferences of the same name, which were held in June 2022 and October 2023 in Prague. The last with the participation of representatives of nine countries of the wider Central European area (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria).

In their speeches, the speakers summarized the main ideas of the aforementioned publication and the entire topic. Petr Drulák, professor of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, political scientist, columnist and former deputy foreign minister of the Czech Republic, tried to explain Global aspects of the necessity of Central European cooperation.

The proceedings were also personally greeted by H. Em. Dominik Cardinal Duka, who recalled not only the historical role of St. Adalbert, but also the challenges that Central Europe was going through at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries.

He was followed up by Doc. Zdeněk Koudelka, lawyer, university pedagogue and long-time vice-chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Committee of the Chamber of Deputies with a reflection on Which model of state law is the most suitable for closer cooperation between Central European countries.

The value anchoring of future Central European cooperation was presented by the publisher, columnist and editor of the mentioned booklet, Michal Semín.

The seminar was closed by Zdeněk Žák, an expert in transport infrastructure and distribution networks and former Minister of Transport of the Czech Republic, with his Vision of the Central European Economic Area and its strategic infrastructure.

After that, the participants remained in a free discussion. The meeting purposefully preceded the 3-rd International Conference with the same theme, which will be held in Prague on October 25-27, 2024.