The President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, delivered a speech at the opening of the Forum 2000 conference:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends of human rights and democracy! 

It is a pleasure to be in your distinguished company once again – among leaders, defenders of human rights, independent journalists, and young people who care about our shared future.  

People who stand up for the powerless and strive to make the world more hopeful. 

Our segment of the conference is devoted to the future of relations with Russia. We meet in the fourth year of its unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. Russia is ever more emboldened by the support of its autocratic enablers and yet increasingly burdened by the domestic costs of its senseless and bloody campaign. 

Today, Russia represents a fundamental threat to Europe’s security, freedom, and democracy. It seeks to dismantle democratic system and dominate Eastern and Central Europe, piece by piece. To achieve this, it aims to weaken and divide the transatlantic community. 

President Trump’s efforts towards peace in Ukraine offered Russia an opportunity to show how serious it really was about a negotiated solution. In our part of the world, the answer surprised no one.  

Russia was never ready to negotiate in good faith. Instead, it has doubled down on its cynical military campaign, using terror as a weapon to break Ukraine’s morale. 

The recent violations of Polish and Estonian airspace by Russian drones and fighter jets confirm that Moscow’s readiness to take risks – and to escalate further – is only growing. 

This war has many battlegrounds – from cyberattacks to intimidation of those who speak against Putin.  

Above all, it is a war for hearts and minds. A war not fought with weapons on the frontlines, but through deception within our societies. Deception that preys on fear, frustration, and even legitimate grievances. 

Russia has been sowing distrust within our societies: distorting the truth about its war in Ukraine, spreading lies about Europe, our allies, and our own institutions.  

This is a script already familiar across much of Europe. In Georgia, I am sorry to say, Russia has not been unsuccessful. In Moldova, so far, it has failed. But the struggle goes on.  

In my own country, a recent study found that pro-Russian disinformation websites now produce more content than established media. Their messages have taken root in parts of our society. 

It is our task, to do much more in our own interest. Disinformation will not disappear on its own. It creates a parallel reality – a kind of a rabbit hole. It is easy to fall into, but much harder to climb out of. 

That is why, regardless of the composition of the next Czech government, it is essential to uphold and strengthen the very foundations of democratic civic structures. 

People deserve reliable information and authentic voices. That is why we need strong public service media and a healthy media landscape, offering plural perspectives without spreading hatred and deepening uncertainties.

In this regard, I welcome the establishment of the regional office of Reporters Without Borders. It will strengthen the defence of independent journalism, support journalists under threat, and help build resilience against disinformation across Central and Eastern Europe. 

But free media is not enough. We also need independent universities, rigorous science, an impartial judiciary, and a vibrant civic structure of principled non-governmental organizations. They give courage a voice and remind authorities that power must serve the public good. This ecosystem is our best protection against internal division and hybrid threats. 

Our country has found itself on the brink of disaster more than once. We know that we can never take our statehood and freedom for granted.   

In September 1938, as Czechoslovakia faced a shameless smear campaign, the Czech writer and humanist Karel Čapek raised his voice in his newspaper article “Prayer for Truth.” He warned that when lies become the language of politics, “they poison nations and dig abysses between them that not even decades can fill.” 

Čapek saw clearly that “falsehood prepares and sustains violence,” and that “to rid the world of lies is more than disarmament”.  

In the 1930s, we woke up too late. We must not make the same mistake again. 

This is not a confrontation we have chosen. For two decades, Russia has defied Europe’s efforts to ease tensions. Unable to deliver at home, it invents enemies abroad and wraps itself in the flag.  

Europe remains open to negotiations in good faith. But any dialogue on Ukraine, and on the security arrangements between Russia and its European neighbours, is only possible where there is a basic respect for rules and at least a baseline of trust.  

So far, we have only seen Europe’s interests ignored and old imperial ambitions revived. But there can be no way forward without a commitment to truth. 

That is true at home, and it is true in our relations with Russia.  

While the Russian ruling elites or so called “verkhushka” has made genuine dialogue impossible, we should seek to engage with those who keep an open mind. With those who can look at their own country without yielding to the world of lies. The people whom Forum 2000 brings to the fore are particularly well suited to this task.  

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Our approach must serve three purposes:  

• to listen and understand, through direct experience, but also through a sustained diplomatic presence at ambassadorial level;  
• to contest Kremlin narratives;  
• and third to stand with those inside Russia who risk everything for truth. In darker times, foreign solidarity kept our own dissidents going. We should not offer less.

Let us not allow lies to drive out truth. As Karel Čapek warned, they indeed “poison nations and dig abysses between them”. Against this, we must stand together. The Russian democratic movement is part of the answer to what future relations with Russia may one day look like. 

The task ahead is immense.  

But the first step is clear: if there is to be a decent future – for us, for Russia, for all who believe that humanity can learn from history – Ukraine must prevail in safeguarding its sovereignty.   

Supporting Ukraine’s defence against the barbarity of Putin’s war is more than an act of solidarity.  

It is the surest way to bring closer the day when truth, not lies, will have the final word.  

Thank you for your attention. 

Petr Pavel, the President of the Czech Republic, Prague October 13th 2025