Speech in Istanbul: Humanity Deserves Better (but what does this slogan mean?)

English Pages, 8. 7. 2021

It has become fashionable and politically correct to speak extensively and dramatically about covid and its epidemic. What bothers me much more, however, is the reaction of the international community and national governments. We shouldn’t underestimate the human losses and the human suffering caused by the aggressive coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, but the man-made, politically motivated collateral damage is far greater.

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The Progressively Growing Self-Destruction of the West and Its Acceleration by the Covid Epidemic

English Pages, 28. 5. 2021

Many thanks for the invitation. It is great to visit Warsaw at this beautiful time of year and to have the opportunity to address this important gathering after a year of no travels, no conferences and no speeches abroad. Many thanks to the organizers for succeeding to push this event through in spite of all obstacles connected with the corona epidemic. In the last couple of months, people like me have been receiving countless letters with cancelations of already scheduled conferences. Once again, many thanks to all who made today’s meeting possible.  

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Letter of condolence to Valeria Natsios-Mundell

English Pages, 6. 4. 2021

Dear Valeria, dear Nicholas,

It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing away of your husband and your father. Allow me to express my sincere condolences to both of you.

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From the Health Crisis to the Democratic Crisis: Remarks by a True Believer in Free and Open Society

English Pages, 2. 2. 2021

Many thanks for the invitation. It is great to be in Vienna at the end of January again, as if nothing happened between January 2020 and January 2021. The Vienna Congress Com.Sult has become a part of our lives and of our calendar, at least for some of us. Many thanks to David Ungar-Klein for succeeding to push this year’s Vienna Congress through, in spite of all the adversity, hurdles and obstacles connected with the corona epidemic. In the last couple of months, all of us have been receiving letters with cancelations of all scheduled conferences and seminars. The fact that we are here today is – given the circumstances – almost unbelievable. Once again, many thanks to all who made it possible.  

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Laudatio by Václav Klaus: Tamás Deutsch - the 2020 Petöfi Prize Winner

English Pages, 16. 12. 2020

As a 2018 Petöfi Prize laureate, I am greatly honoured to be asked to deliver the laudatio for this year’s winner of the Petöfi Prize, the distinguished Hungarian politician and true Central European, Tamás Deutsch. I do not have the slightest doubts about this year’s choice. The jury organized by the Public Foundation for the Research of Central and Eastern European History and Society selected the right person – someone who is from the region, someone who is a genuine Central European, someone who – by his brave and productive activities in the last more than three decades – has made history.

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Address to the School for Young Leaders of North Macedonia

English Pages, 10. 12. 2020

Dear President Ivanov, dear participants of this year’s School for Young Leaders,

I am honoured by being asked to address you at the opening day of your gathering.  I remember very positively my visit to Ohrid seven years ago. It was in the middle of August, in perfect sunny weather. It is different now, we do not have summer, and we are not together in Ohrid overlooking the beautiful Ohrid Lake.

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The Václav Klaus Institute urging the Czech Government to reject the dangerous Ursula von der Leyen’s plan

English Pages, 2. 6. 2020

The Václav Klaus Institute (IVK) strongly and resolutely rejects the so called “Next Generation EU” proposal to create a huge EU fund, put forward in the speech made by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on May 27.

The European Commission’s initiative repeatedly proves that the Brussels’ elites have been using the epidemic as a justification and pretext for strengthening their recurrent attempts to prolong the already untenable state of the EU at the cost of massive indebtedness of citizens of EU member countries and of their future generations.

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Hard talk with Václav Klaus: “The people should say NO to all of it.”

English Pages, 7. 5. 2020

Václav Klaus’s answers to questions raised by Claudio Grass for ProAurum 

As we get deeper into this crisis and we get used to our “new normal”, it’s easy to focus on the daily corona-horror stories in the media or the latest shocking unemployment numbers, and lose track of the bigger picture and of what is really, fundamentally important. Even as the lockdown measures begin to get phased out, the scale of the economic damage is unimaginable and the idea of returning to “business as usual” is no longer tenable. The last couple of months have had a severe impact not just on the economy, but on our societies and geopolitical reality too. These changes are most likely irreversible and we as citizens and as investors will have to be prepared to deal with this massive shift and all that it entails for a long time.

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The answers to the Dialog of Civilizations survey

English Pages, 19. 4. 2020

Dear Mr. Bas,

I have many problems with participating in your survey. I disagree with the questions in it because they are one-sided and aprioristic. I don’t believe that “institutions such as the United Nations are paramount in developing policies and initiatives that will help move the world forward”. Plus I don’t think we are facing global challenges. Even the coronavirus pandemic – considered a global problem – has been solved exclusively at the national level. The role of the WHO is close to zero, if not negative.

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Václav Klaus: Digitalization needs politics (or vice versa: do politics and society need digitalization?)

English Pages, 28. 1. 2020

I don’t pretend to be an expert on digitalization, on information technology, or computers. I don’t even use a smartphone. I am, therefore, really not the right person to address this topic. I tried to explain this to David Ungar-Klein but as you all know him, you’ll probably agree with me that it is impossible to change his view once he’s made up his mind. When he decides to make me the introductory speaker of this panel, there is no way to resist it. At least this is my experience. 

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