Interview with Mikuláš Bek, Minister of European Aff airs

Podepište, prosím, petici a podpořte Josefa Středulu jako občanského kandidáta na funkci prezidenta České republiky! Petiční arch lze stáhnout na www.stredulanasprezident.cz

ADVERTISEMENT a challenge for those who want a predictable and stable life. It is a big ask for families of diplomats and I am always impressed by the commitment of everyone who stands beside and works with the head of mission.

As ambassadors, we are committed to raising the profi le of our respective countries and people. We have to balance the personal and professional realities and social expectations. Covid-19 revealed all around the world that we need more commitment of resources to support women, and men, especially those with the responsibility for the vulnerable including children and elders in our societies. We mustn’t lose sight of this during the post-pandemic recovery, and when we respond to new challenges. If we deliver more balanced, social systems which are better aligned, we will be far better prepared and able to progress the necessary changes and realise the benefi ts of the recovery at the local level.

On a personal level, all of us have been aff ected by the pandemic, and the separation from our families, friends, and networks. We are very grateful to the Czech government and agencies for looking after us. As a woman ambassador, regular exchanges with other women heads of missions in Prague, and with EU and other colleagues have been vital especially when travel and in-person meetings were on hold.

It was a challenge to transfer directly from being an ambassador to Denmark and Iceland, to the Czech Republic and being accredited to Ukraine up to last year. I had just a few short months as an ambassador here prior to the impact of Covid-19. Prague is an impressive, creative city at the heart of Europe, and it has many historic, innovative, and cultural strengths which complement Ireland.

Some highlights have included bringing our deputy prime minister (Tánaiste), Irish ministers and agencies together, some for the fi rst time, with Czech counterparts. We have been delighted at the response to Irish creative talent which is showcased at literature, fi lm, and theatre festivals, and exhibitions. In the lead up to the Czech EC Presidency 2022, both our countries are keen to step up our eff ective political, economic and business links. We work daily to strengthen connections and build alliances with partners within and outside the EU. We promote convergence between Irish and Czech ‘Like Minded’ positions on signifi cant core issues which include the EU Recovery, Single Market, Free Trade, and Digitisation.

At the local level, Ireland is proud of the work and outreach of the Irish Studies Centre at Charles University which for many years has reached across the Czech Republic and Europe. Personal highlights have included the launch of the fi rst Narrative 4 Educational Programme led by DOX Prague. N4 was founded by Irish writer Colum McCann in New York and reaches from the US to the Middle East, Africa to Europe. Here, N4 now involves hundreds of Czech teachers and students and includes Irish literature programmes from the ISC. My visits beyond Prague to Brno, Liberec and more reveal just how important it is to connect with Czech people.

Former Czechoslovakia was a good friend of Ireland at the League of Nations when we worked towards independence post WW1. Czech and Irish histories reveal the considerable impact of occupation on our peoples. In the 20th century, Ireland actively sought membership in the UN, OECD and the EC in 1973. We opened a resident mission in Prague in 1995, and Ireland welcomed the Czech Republic during the enlargement of the European Union which took place during the Irish EC Presidency on 1 May 2004. I remember how moving it was to witness the handover to the PM by a Czech child at the ceremony in Dublin. During the 20th and early 21st Century, Czech leaders including Vaclav Havel, writers and thinkers were in contact with Irish counterparts and infl uenced each other. During this century, especially with the common challenges we face, it is time to strengthen collaboration and align ourselves with the Czech Republic and like-minded partners on EU and geopolitical issues.

When I was starting out, a senior colleague advised me to stay curious and to read constantly. Finding experienced mentors is a must. More than ever, in the 21st century, leaders need to be listeners, as well as champions.

One of the very best aspects of this work is engaging with the current and next generation of Czech leaders and agencies, visiting towns and universities, and meeting with heads of faculties, teachers, and students. It is a vital part of our outreach to engage with the next generation and from the Czech students that we meet, the future of the Czech Republic is already in good hands. The best advice is to listen, learn, question - and be committed to lifelong learning.

This interview has been a special way to share St. Patrick´s Day. Our national day on 17 March has become a global celebration of our links with the Irish abroad, as well as the growing ‘Irish affi nity’ diaspora. As a result of our international connectivity, St. Patrick´s Day has become a time to highlight current and new connections, celebrate and expand our networks – and encourage all our partners and friends to visit Ireland and enjoy our very green island! I’d like to encourage your readers to contact us at the embassy – and look forward with my colleagues to new partnerships and friends.

Text: Prof. Eva Zažímalová, President of the CAS; Translation & Edit: Martina Hošková; Photo: CAS Archive

At the assembly session that took place in Prague Vinohrady in April 2022, the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Eva Zažímalová, gave a speech covering the Academy´s activities regarding aid to Ukraine and the three priorities in terms of the science and research areas the Academy would like to focus on during the Czech EU presidency. Here is an extract of the speech that we are bringing to your attention.

The topic I am going to now cover considers our activities to help Ukraine. To begin with, I would like to thank my colleagues, not only in the Academy Council, but also in our institutes. A spontaneous wave of solidarity with Ukraine was, similarly to society as a whole, amazing. I appreciate that deeply.

I would like to emphasise that the Academy Council prepared a clear statement in the afternoon on the very fi rst day of the war. We expressed our support to the invaded Ukraine and unequivocally condemned the unprovoked invasion of the Russian Federation – and we immediately started planning specifi c help for the people from Ukraine who were arriving to the Czech Republic. In the form of internships, we are channelling it to the scientists, PhD researchers, and postdoctoral students who are leaving their country due to the war. The possibility to continue their research is facilitated through the Researchers at Risk Fellowship program. Under this program, we are going to support at least fi fty Ukrainian researchers by the end of 2023. Let me add that the Academy Council approved the fi rst twenty-two applications on 12th April 2022.

The Academy Council also approved an extraordinary increase for the Excellence Support Programme for Prospective Employees – specifi cally by 50 million CZK. The institutes can start using these funds specifi cally to support their prospective employees from Ukraine (not only researchers) who reside in the Czech Republic due to the war. This way, we are able to support more colleagues, including outside the scope of the above-mentioned Researchers at Risk Fellowship program.

I would like to say that, in response to the aggression of the Russian Federation and the cooperation of Belarus in it, we have also terminated the agreement with the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The council of the Academy of Sciences has also recommended that the institutes suspend or terminate cooperation with Russian and Belarussian research institutes. We have made this recommendation especially because it is not possible to guarantee freedom of research without political interference. This fact is fundamentally at odds with the concept of science as we perceive it in our European area. However, under no circumstances does our decision apply to individual researchers from Russia and Belarus who express their fundamental disagreement with the war and regimes in their countries. The institutes keep us updated on how they want to take part in common activities of the Academy of Sciences or which specifi c forms of aid they off er themselves, and we also inform the public about our activities – namely on our website in a separate section entitled “Help for Ukraine”.

However, it is necessary to look into the future - as Aristotle put it: “It is not enough to win a war, it is more important to organise the peace”. In this regard, our work is still ahead of us.

The third topic of my speech is the agenda in connection

EU Council. Let me summarize the areas our activities are focused on. I would like to say that their selection is not random, but it is tied to the long-term Strategy AV21 research programs. So, they represent priorities through which we respond to the current challenges and problems of society, in accordance with our vision of carrying out “cutting-edge research in the public interest”. By no means do we consider this motto some kind of cliché or ‘label’. As the Czech society and its needs change, our institution, the Academy of Sciences, has gone through a transformation too. That is why, in 2014, at the initiative of the preceding Academy Council, under the leadership of my predecessor Prof. Jiří Drahoš, a strategy was born with the objective of multidisciplinary approach to addressing the current issues of today.

For the Czech EU presidency, we have therefore chosen the following three priorities. The fi rst area focuses on Safe

in crop breeding. In so doing, we respond to future problems connected to food shortage and climate change, as well as a recent dramatic development in molecular genetics methods leading to a targeted and controlled genome editing using so-called molecular scissors.

The second priority our activities will concentrate on is Low-emission and safe energetics. After all, the situation today regarding energy just proves the urgency of this issue. The third area, Resilient society, covers various aspects: from resilient communities, families, and individuals to circular economy and food security, to trust in institutions, and resistance to the spread of disinformation.

Text: Martina Hošková and M. Zisso; Photo: Archive

When you hear these words from a career diplomat with a 40-year-long working experience, it sure means a lot. And you can understand the message even better when Roberto Alejandro Salafi a goes into more detail: “Diplomats don´t usually have ‘adventures’. My professional memories are more related to long negotiations and to the satisfaction of reaching a fi nal agreement”. What challenges has he faced in our country? And what happened in Zimbabwe?

From left: Facundo Herrera, Laura Fracassa, Ambassador Roberto Alejandro Salafia, Verónica Skerianz and Eduardo Cavallero.

Obviously, I believe that most people are struck by the beauty of Prague at fi rst sight, and then, when you can travel around the country, the combination of nature, history and culture is unbeatable. Czechs are very proud of their country, and I quickly understood why. I am a social person by nature and quite active too. I like having a full agenda that allows me to meet interesting people, get to know new places, or learn new information. But, of course, these activities are related to my respon