Czech Republic - country in the heart of Europe

Next May are the elections to the European Parliament. How do Czech citizens feel about EU membership? How has the country developed politically and economically since the "velvet" revolution in November 1989? The diplomatic representative of the Czech Republic in Munich, Consul General Kristina Larischová, talked about the current EU mood, the EU discourse and the most important challenges for Czech politics and business. Report of the event>

Announcement of the event:

Hofbräukeller restaurant on Wienerplatz, Maximimilianstube, Monday, 6 May 2019, 11:00 - 13:00 o'clock
with Consul General Kristina Larischová

Until the time of Charles IV, Prague was the centre of power in Central Europe, under his rule the first Central European university, Karls University, was founded in Prague. Even today, magnificent buildings bear witness to the wealth of the "Golden City". Gradually, the centre of power moved to Vienna, which the Bohemian nobility did not like. Not least the beginning of the 30-year war by the first Defenestration of Prague was a result of this development. After the 1st World War the Imperial Reich disintegrated. Czechoslovakia was founded with some birth pangs. In 1938 Hitler occupied first the so-called Sudetenland and later the whole Czechoslovakia and established a bloody rule. After the 2nd World War the country came under Soviet rule, the attempt of a human socialism in the "Prague Spring" of 1968 was stopped abruptly by the invasion of the troops of the Warsaw Pact.

At the end of 1989, the country finally achieved freedom and began to develop rapidly due to its excellent education and best skilled workers. On 1 January 1993 the two parts of the country separated into the Czech and Slovak Republics, a separation which 15 years later prompted the Austrian newspaper "Die Presse" to headline: "Czechia-Slovakia: the divorce that became a model". Since then both countries have developed very well and still maintain good neighbourly relations. But there are still sceptical voices among the population about the EU.