Guest speech: Ambassador of Czech Republic, H.E. Mr. Jan Koukal

As a continuation of the EU Presidency - Guest Lecture Series of the IMC Export Department, under the auspices of the Chair for International, Legal and Global Political Studies, Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic invited H.E. Mr. Jan KOUKAL, current Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Austria.

After a very warm welcome and a brief introduction given by the Chairman Bajrektarevic, H.E. Ambassador Koukal opened his absorbing speech with the objective to give the IMC students and lecturers an insight into the priorities and future prospective of the Czech EU Presidency 2009. The whole talk was accompanied by a very enjoyable, as well as relaxed, atmosphere.

The first main issue discussed by Ambassador Koukal was the three E’s (Economy, Energy and European Union) which have before been the three G’s (Gas, Gaza and Georgia). The Ambassador gave us a brief summary of steps that have been taken at the end of the year 2008, as the EU Council conclusions of the full application of all internal market freedom. The actual market freedoms contain four scopes: the free movement of capital, services, workers and energy.

Following that interesting introduction Ambassador Koukal, who has served as a mayor of Prague 1993 to 1998 and is still a deputy in the parliament of the ruling right-wing political party, the Civic Democratic Party, in the Czech Republic, informed us about the idea of implementing a 5th movement - the freedom of knowledge, which would mean promoting EU research projects, as well as supporting educational projects, as in the point of view of the Ambassador Koukal human capital is the most valuable of all.

Furthermore the priorities for the Czech Republic in coherence with the EU in the world were discussed. As stated by our guest their priority is the Eastern European and Balkan partnership. With regards to this the Czech Republic is not only supporting Croatia to become a member of the European Union, as they are close to this step, but also Macedonia and Serbia by pushing them to reach the EU membership.

The next point reviewed was the good bilateral relations between the Czech Republic and Austria. According to Ambassador Koukal, who has prior worked at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, there are many co-operations and investments in the economy of both sides, so the economic relationship can be seen as absolutely positive. At the moment there are but still there is some room left for improvement since the Czech Republic is trying to establish a network between research institutions and they have to put more interest on the educational side.

Based on the appeal of our host Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic, the final part of the content substantively and very informative two-hour lecture comprised the personal view of Ambassador Koukal on the G20 and the current financial crisis, as well as a very lively question and answer session in which questions, such as the monitoring of the radars or the first governmental break down since 1993 in the Czech Republic, have been addressed and answered by our guest H.E. Ambassador Jan KOUKAL.
In spite of the content-intensive and very comprehensive speech Ambassador Koukal accomplished to create a very familiar and relaxed atmosphere during his whole talk, which made it to an absolutely memorable event.

The official part of this extraordinary event was closed with a cocktail and a family photo, which was taken in the gorgeous inner courtyard of the IMC Krems, where the IMC students had the unique opportunity to address further questions to The Excellency in a friendly, relaxed and familiar atmosphere.

Summing up after the half-day visit to Krems, Ambassador and his assistant Dr. Jaroslav KNOT, Embassy Secretary for the Political and EU Affairs stated that they were very impressed by our faculty’s interest in European Union affairs. The Ambassador also complimented the commitment and knowledge of our students as could be evident throughout the questions and discussion with him.

As a possible follow up Prof. Bajrektarevic and the Ambassador discussed the Czech Republic as a venue for the IMC EXP planned focused double degree programs with the similar schools in Czech Republic this year.

The Guest Lecture with H.E. Ambassador Jan KOUKAL was the 62nd event organized under the auspices of the Chairman Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic. The next event will take place on the 2nd of April 2009, when Prof. Dr. Bajrektarevic is hosting Alexander Zmeyevskiy, the Russian Ambassador to the IAEA and other Vienna-based IOs.

Photos: L-M. Kronreif & H. Maglock
Text: V. Schwarzbraun (rev. A.B.)