On 22 May 2024, the Historical Archives of the European Union welcomed the Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák, on campus for the European University Institute’s annual State of Union conference. The visit provided an opportunity for the Archives to demonstrate several historical documents concerning the relationship between Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) and the European Community. The Minister was accompanied by Czechia's Ambassador to Italy Jan Kohout.
The HAEU drew from its institutional and private collections to illustrate various facets of cooperation between Czechoslovakia and the European Community, dating from well before its accession in 2004. Steps towards commercial and political cooperation between Czechoslovakia and the European Community from the 1970s onwards were evident in documents from the European Commission, while the archives of the European Movement (EM) and the Union of European Federalists (UEF) highlighted the political will of some Eastern European actors to embrace European ideals. Finally, documents from the European Cultural Society (ECS) illustrated the major role played by Václav Havel, former President of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republics, in bringing Czechoslovakia closer to the European Community by promoting solidarity between peoples.
Especially interesting for the Minister was an interview between Jacques Delors and Jozef Moravčík, former Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia, dated 10 September 1992. This interview marked the beginning of the establishment of the two new republics, Czech and Slovak, which took place on 31 December 1992 and gave rise to the birth of today’s Czech Republic.
The Minister’s visit, in proximity to Czechia’s twentieth anniversary since its European accession on 4 May 2004, was a chance to highlight archival holdings that preserve elements of the country’s path towards membership in the EU.
Photo, from left: Marie Undreiner (HAEU archivist trainee), Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák, Dieter Schlenker, Director HAEU, Adam Volt, Head of Cabinet of the Minister for European Affairs, and Czech Ambassador to Italy Jan Kohout.