Presentation of the 2025 Tom Stoppard Prize for an original, unpublished essay in the Czech language that makes an extraordinary contribution to the understanding of contemporary society, civilization, the international environment, human rights, literary and artistic works and their creators, new scientific discoveries, modern history and the processes taking place in the human soul. The laureate will be introduced by the director of the Václav Havel Library, Tomáš Sedláček, a jury member will explain its decision and musician Marie Kieslowski will provide live music.

US presidents usually go to Canada or Mexico for their first major foreign trip. However, in his second term Donald Trump chose the Middle East, specifically visiting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Trump’s choice signals an American pivot to a Persian Gulf rich in oil and geopolitical influence. Deník N editor Dominika Píhová will discuss the region's international influence, as well as the power of oil money and ongoing conflicts with Arab Studies expert, Islamic Studies expert and vice-chairman of the Czech Academy of Sciences Ondřej Beránek and journalist, Middle East expert and lecturer at Prague’s Metropolitan University Břetislav Tureček.

13 July will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Medek, who lived a very rich and meaningful life: journalist, musicologist, Charter 77 signatory, hospital orderly, Voice of America correspondent, advisor to the Czech Philharmonic and an important collaborator of President Václav Havel at Prague Castle in the field of domestic politics and beyond, especially when he headed his office. Confirmed guests include Bishop Václav Malý, journalist and Voice of America colleague Jolyon Naegele, Petr Kadlec from the Czech Philharmonic and Medek’s musician widow Helena Medková. Gabriela Dlouhá Svárovská will reminisce about Ivan Medek’s cooperation with Václav Havel at the Office of the President. Ivan Medek himself will also be with us, in the form of short audio clips.

For several years now, Ukraine has been resisting military aggression from totalitarian Russia. Is the Russian-Ukrainian war heading towards a ceasefire, or even a lasting peace? Who will be the victor? Will Russia get away with flagrant violations of international law? Will there be a “peace” that will mean the surrender of Ukraine? How is Europe preparing to contain Russian expansion? What shape is NATO in? How realistic is Ukrainian membership of the EU and NATO? What role does the Czech Republic play in supporting the defence of Ukraine and Europe? How is it contributing to the creation of a “coalition of the willing”? Are we on the threshold of global war, or armed peace? Debate guests include presidential advisor Petr Kolář and Czech Radio’s correspondent in Ukraine, Martin Dorazín. The discussion will be chaired by historian and philosopher Petr Hlaváček.

Come say hello and pick up some summer reading at the Václav Havel Library stand at the summer edition of Knihex, which this time is taking place in the garden of the Museum of Literature in Bubeneč.

Thirty-five years ago, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty moved from Munich to Prague at the invitation of President Václav Havel, with the Czech Republic symbolically taking over patronage of the Liberty Bell, the famous emblem of this journalistic entity funded by the United States Congress. The events of the last few years in Russia – the Kremlin's efforts to take over Ukraine and its hybrid war against the Western world – have reaffirmed that freedom of speech and access to uncensored information are just as important as they were during the first Cold War. Ivana Ryčlová has interviewed people who fight against the criminal Putin regime and its propaganda through their broadcasts and conscientious journalism: the Russian journalists, writers, historians, political scientists working for RFE/RL. She has gathered their testimonies in the publication Česko a svět očima Rusů v exilu. Pohled žurnalistů Rádia Svoboda (Czechia and the World through the Eyes of Russians in Exile: RFE/RL Journalists’ Perspectives). Taking part in the book’s presentation will be Jefim Fištejn, Andrey Shary and Jaroslav Šimov.

Discussion featuring editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For more information visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.

This evening is being held in honour of one of Václav Havel's closest friends and collaborators, Jan Grossman, whose would have been 100 on 22 May. Václav Havel remembered Jan Grossman as an insightful theoretician and critic, an experienced dramaturge and later director, a man with an intense relationship to the theatre, who had the ability to discern its various spiritual and cultural contexts... The programme, which will feature a mix of recollections and little-known archival video footage, will be presented by playwright and journalist Karel Steigerwald and Ondřej Pavelka, a member of the National Theatre’s drama section. Playwright Milan Klíma and director and documentary filmmaker Aleš Kisil are among those who have confirmed participation, while the actress Marie Málková will remember her husband in a pre-recorded video message.

Leading Czech architect Eva Jiřičná will look back on more than 60 years of her professional career and touch on key moments in her working life, including her collaboration with Václav Havel. She will pay special attention to the Prague Crossroads spiritual centre, for which she shaped a unique, sensitive and distinctive renovation.

We cordially invite you to the award ceremony of the 25th edition of the Miroslav Ivanov Awards (for 2023 and 2024). The prize is bestowed on the authors of the most outstanding publications in the field of non-fiction and is run by the Club of Non-Fiction Authors with the support of the town of Jaroměř. Sixty titles from 27 publishing houses were submitted for this year’s edition. The event will be moderated by Marie Hodinářová.

A debate featuring experts from the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes held in connection with the 50th anniversary of Václav Havel's letter to General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Gustav Husák.

Celebrations of the 1100th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius and the awarding of the Golden Rose to the Velehrad Basilica took place on 5 July 1985, with major turnout from the faithful. These grew into expressions of resistance against the communist regime, becoming a significant historical event. Debate guests: Historians Michal Pehr, Jaroslav Šebek and Jan Stříbrný. The discussion will be helmed by Petr Blažek.

What does war do to the human psyche? How does one live with the reality of constant threat, loss and trauma? And what remains when the fighting is over? How do not only bodies “return” from war, but also broken spirits? And how do we care for them when the system and the people around them fail to keep up? In a debate on the occasion of the publication of Neviditelné rány – Krize duševního zdraví na Ukrajině očima tamních expertů (Invisible Wounds: The Mental Health Crisis in Ukraine through the Eyes of Local Specialists), we will combine academic insight, field experience and human stories from the war. The publication has been produced in collaboration with nearly 100 Ukrainian professionals, humanitarian workers, artists and volunteers, who provided testimonies on how war transforms the psychological reality of individuals and society. We will debate not only what Ukraine needs, but also what we can learn from it – about resilience, community, the healing power of sharing, and the fine line between heroism and psychological exhaustion.

The well-known phrase “truth and love must triumph over lies and hatred”, uttered by Václav Havel from the balcony of Melantrich in December 1989, became one of the slogans of the Velvet Revolution. Over time, however, these words have often become the target of ridicule. People espousing the values and ideas championed by Václav Havel were, and are, sometimes referred to as “the truth and love brigade”. But do we actually know what precisely the words “truth” and “love” mean? Do people associate too many different ideas with them? Was Václav Havel's phrase a manifestation of naivety or, on the contrary, the clarity of a thinker and statesman looking at history and society from a long-term perspective? These questions and topics and more will be discussed by economist, philosopher and director of the Václav Havel Library Tomáš Sedláček, actress and singer Barbora Poláková and philosopher Václav Němec. Světlana Witovská will chair the debate.