On 25 and 26 September 2024, another of the regular meetings of Czech and Slovak parliamentary assistants took place in Prague, aimed at exchanging experiences and discussing a range of topics, especially current challenges in the field of legislation, foreign policy and the protection of NGOs.
The first day of the event began with a discussion on the coordination of Czech foreign policy and its actors, led by Marta Hušková from the Office of the President of the Republic.
The afternoon program was dedicated to a discussion with Lukáš Kraus from Lobbio and Andrea Michalcová from the Center for Informed Society on the protection of NGOs in the context of international legislation such as FARA and other legislative instruments. The evening then continued with an informal networking dinner with Czech assistants.
The second day of the meeting was devoted to a visit to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, where the Slovak assistants took a guided tour and then discussed the current legislation in Slovakia and the Czech Republic together with members of the Chamber of Deputies and their assistants. Thanks to the meeting, they were able to share their experiences from their daily work at the parliamentary level and also the similarities and differences in the functioning of the parliaments of both countries.
The programme concluded with a round table on media legislation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, featuring Iveta Kvardová from Lobbio, Marína Urbániková from the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University, Pavel Havlíček from the Association for International Affairs and Veronika Víchová from the Centre for Informed Society. The discussion focused on the current changes in media legislation and their possible impact on media freedom and public space in both countries.
The meeting in Prague once again confirmed the importance of these meetings for deepening the cooperation between Czech and Slovak parliamentary assistants. The participants had the opportunity to share their experiences, discuss current challenges and strengthen professional relations.
The study trip to Prague was prepared by the Centre for an Informed Society thanks to the support of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation and in cooperation with the Institute for Education and Innovation in Politics.
