PCTR hosted Kurt Volker

Date of event: 6. - 8. September

Kurt Volker accepted PCTRs invitation to visit the Czech Republic on September 6-9. His wife, Ia Meurmishvili, who works for the Georgian desk of Voice of America, accompanied him. He met with the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jakub Kulhánek to discuss the situation in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the American military units and its impact on the transatlantic relations. Further on, they discussed the situation in countries involved in The Eastern Partnership. The same topics dominated the meeting with experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kurt Volker also met the Deputy Minister of Defence, Jan Havránek, Radio Free Europe President Jamie Fly, and RFE editorial management. MEP and Chairman of the PCTR Board, Alexandr Vondra, hosted a dinner on Kurt Volker’s visit to Prague. He gave a couple of interviews to the Czech media.

Together with Alexander Vondra, he discussed the reflection of the 9/11 attacks, following steps by the Bush administration and the current state of transatlantic relations. You can watch the recording of the debate “9/11 Twenty Years On: Have We Learned Anything?” (in English with Czech subtitles) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ek2-4ELZTc

Ambassador Kurt Volker is a leading expert in U.S. foreign and national security policy with 30 years of experience in various government, academic, and private sector capacities. He served as U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations (2017-2019) and a U.S. ambassador to NATO (2008-2009). Kurt Volker was a special assistant to the United States special envoy for Bosnia negotiations, Richard Holbrooke, and worked as a legislative fellow on the staff of Senator John McCain. He also worked in the U.S. mission to NATO and the private office of Secretary-General of NATO G. Robertson (1999-2001). He was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs during the George W. Bush administration. Kurt Volker was also Executive Director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership (2012-2019). 

An interview for the Czech Television: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10316155327-horizont-ct24/221411058050909/video/862675

An interview for Hospodářské noviny: https://archiv.hn.cz/c1-66972440-biden-mohl-odchod-z-afghanistanu-odlozit-a-mel-to-udelat-mysli-si-nekdejsi-americky-velvyslanec-pri-nato

An interview for Aktuálně.cz: https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/zahranici/biden-resi-hlavne-domaci-politiku-v-zahranici-jen-cinu/r~5ecb8cfc14c711eca1070cc47ab5f122/