Together with the Atlantic Council, we organized a debate in Houston with the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel. It was the first time ever that the Atlantic Council Front Page platform took place outside of Washington, D.C., namely in Texas, which is an important business partner for the Czech Republic, but also the state with the biggest Czech diaspora in the USA. The event is attended by prominent American representatives from the political sphere, the military, business, think tanks, and the academic sphere.
In the debate, President Pavel spoke not only about the results of the NATO summit in Washington, but also about the importance of continuing aid to Ukraine, the interconnectedness of transatlantic and Indo-Pacific security, and other related topics.
The debate with the President was preceded by a discussion with the participation of the Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, Director General for Defence Policy and Strategy Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, Jan Jireš, as well as former US Ambassador to Poland, and Atlantic Council Fellow Daniel Fried and Lockheed Martin Vice President J.R. McDonald. The discussion was hosted by Valbona Zeneli from the Atlantic Council Europe Center.
We are grateful to the Office of the President of the Czech Republic, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, DC for their cooperation in organizing the event. We also thank the event partners Bell Flight, Lockheed Martin, and SpaceKnow for their support.
Live broadcast recording is available at https://www.facebook.com/jagello2000/videos/499283995947237/.
