On Tuesday January 27th 2015, our comparative politics class was privileged to hear from the Czech Republic’s Consul General, Michal Sedlacek. We had the opportunity to hear him discuss the current progress in the Czech Republic and some of the steps they are taking to improve the lives of the Czech citizens and ideas they are hoping to implement in the future to move forward as a country and people. He discussed many topics such as the history of the Czech Republic, the economy, the trade and Czech relationships with other countries.
The Consul began by explaining a bit about the history of the Czech Republic, which I found very interesting. It became the Czech Republic in 1993 after being the state of Czechoslovakia since 1918. This change came about after the Velvet Revolution which occurred when Czechoslovakia reject the communist party and the country converted to a parliamentary republic. I found it very interesting that Consul Sedlacek was present for one of the most peaceful revolutions in history, and also that he has been been able to see many of the changes and much of the progress which he discussed in lecture.
In 2004 Czech Republic became part of the European Union also called the E.U. This has helped improve their relationships and trade with other European countries. When they joined the Union they agreed to someday change their currency from Czech crowns to Euros, which is what much of the Europe uses. The change has still not occurred but the Consul says this may not happen for quite sometime. The countries who agree to use the Euro must have an economy that is stable enough to make the change of currency or it might go badly. He used the example of Greece multiple times. As he spoke of their currency he also expounded on their trade and economy.
In his lecture Consul Sedlacek stated that the Czech Republic actually exports many of their goods and resources. He said their economy is very trade oriented and that their economy is based on many industrialized products. He explained that one of those major products is cars. The Czech Republic exports over one million cars per year. There are multiple car factories including Hyundai, and Toyota. He pointed out that Germany is the recipient of 60% of their exported good. So they have a strong trading relationship with the Germans and hope that this continues. They are striving to expand their trading partners, and he said it has been a bit difficult to export goods and resources to the United States but they will continue to try.
When asked about the situation in Ukraine the Consul explained a little about the Czech view of what is going on with Ukraine. He explained some of the history of Czechoslovakia including the Russian invasion after World War II. Under this rule they were not allowed to travel or even watch or listen to foreign news. Which may be some of the freedoms many today take for granted. He said the Czech people can understand what Ukraine is going through due to their own history with Russia. But also explained that their is hope for an independence from Russia, especially if we are looking at the example of Czech Republic. They have overcome soviet control and come to be very developed, they have little foreign debt, and many of their businesses have gotten better through privatization. They are also now looking forward to what they can do with energy and he explained about LNG terminals, which a pipelines that they would like to run across multiple parts of Europe providing them with multiple ports for oil.
I found the whole presentation very enlightening. It was such a privilege to hear from someone who has experienced so many things both good and bad in his country. I was very impressed with his hope in the future of the Czech Republic and his joy in how far they have come. They seem to be a very extraordinary people who have overcome multiple obstacles and continue to strive to make economic, and diplomatic progress to better the lives of their people. Overall I believe it was a great presentation.
Georgina Wolfgramm, UVU Student
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STUDENT REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
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15-01-28-Deann Torsak-Presentation of the Dignitary from Czech Republic before UVU students
15-01-29-Munkhbat Batmunkh-Czech Consular Michal Sedlaceks Visit
15-02-01-Jason Linde Consul General of Czech Republic Michal Sedlacek
