“Our Security Cannot Be Taken For Granted” is a prestigious Czech national conference that has since 2014 regularly brought together top political representatives and leading security experts to assess current development and to present plans for defence and security of the Czech Republic.
The 11th edition of the conference „Our Security Cannot Be Taken For Granted“ was held on 12 March 2024 in the Spanish Hall of the Prague Castle on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s accession to NATO. The invitation to speak is forwarded to the experts, representatives of the Government of the Czech Republic and the chairmen of political parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament, as well as important foreign guests. The invitation was accepted also by the former US President William Jefferson Clinton and former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson.
The conference is held under the auspices
of President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel,
of Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala,
of 1st Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the Czech Republic Vít Rakušan,
of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský,
and of Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic Jana Černochová.
The conference series is organized by Jagello 2000 Association that launched this format on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance in March 2014 at the Prague Castle. Before that, it organized also conferences on the occassion of the 5th and 10th anniversary of the NATO accession.
One of the main objectives of the event is to facilitate debate on defence and security among top political figures, experts and members of the armed forces and security forces. Over the years, this unique format of interaction and factual discussion between political representation and the professional public has gained success and positive responses.
The first edition of the conference in 2014 recorded un unprecedented success by signing of the Declaration of Defence of the Czech Republic by all chairman of the parliamantary political parties (except of the Communist Party). On the basis of this conference the coalition parties signed the Treaty on Defence of the Czech Republic, in which they commited themselves to raise the Czech defence budget to 1,4 % GDP by 2020.
Traditional speakers of the conference include the President of the Czech Republic, leaders of the Parliament, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers, armed forces commanders, diplomats and security experts. Each year the event features a foreign guest as an honorary speaker, such as former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former NATO Secretary General George Robertson, NATO Deputy Secretary Generals Alexander Vershbow, Rose Gottemoeller and Mircea Geoana, and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Force Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yair Golan.
The auditorium of this national political and expert debate consists of members of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, senior representatives of the armed forces, representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs, defence and interior, key Czech security experts, academia, diplomats and military representatives of NATO countries, media and other professional visitors. This time, industry representatives, economists and teachers were for the first time in the auditorium.
This event is by invitation only.