The national conference „Our Security Cannot Be Taken for Granted“ was initiated by Jagello 2000 in 2014 at the occasion of 15th anniversary of the Czech Republic accession to the North Atlantic Alliance. A unique form of interaction and substantive discussion between political representation and expert public marked great success and was positively accepted also in following years.
The first edition entitled “15 Years of the Czech Republic in NATO – Our security is not given“ was held on 12 March 2014 at the New Gallery of Prague Castle. Among participants were the President of the Czech Republic, ministers, ambassadors, Chairmen of political parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies and others. George Robertson, former NATO Secretary General was invited as a special guest.
The conference’s main objectives were to thoroughly evaluate and review NATO membership aspects for the Czech Republic and outline the way ahead. The leaders of the political parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic not only offered their parties’ perspectives on security policy but also engaged in lively discussion and signed the “Declaration of Leaders of Political Parties on Ensuring Defence of the Czech Republic” (except Communist Party). Based on this declaration, the coalition parties signed an agreement on ensuring the Czech Republic’s defence, where they undertook to increase the Czech Republic’s defence spending to 1.4% of GDP by 2020.
The conference offered space for one of the first public appearances for the newly-elected government members, when several articles through news portals (idnes.cz, natoaktual.cz, etc.) were published and interviews on both Czech Television and Czech Radio appeared.
Auspices
The 1st edition of the conference „Our Security Cannot Be Taken For Granted“ was held under the auspices of the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman.
