Distinguished directors of the Center for European Studies and the Harvard Kennedy Forum, faculty, students, friends,

it is really great honour to be invited to speak at Harvard University, one of the most prominent institutions of higher learning in the world. In a way, my appearance here today is also a small repayment of an old debt.

In the mid-17th century, John Winthrop Jr., son of one of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, is said to have invited the Czech educator and exile Johannes Amos Comenius to become the first president of Harvard College (It was a little bit smaller that time). Comenius, whom we know as Komenský, was drawn by the offer, but chose instead to help reform the Swedish school system at the request of Queen Christina.

We will never know who lost more in this missed opportunity. But since then, Harvard has held a special place in Czech memory; and I am glad that the feeling has been mutual.

Thirty years ago, my predecessor Václav Havel came here to receive an honorary degree and to deliver the commencement speech to the Harvard class of 1995. Today, I am pleased to be accompanied by Michael Žantovský, former Ambassador to the United States, Havel’s close collaborator, and author of his acclaimed biography.

In his speech, Havel spoke about two themes central to his thinking: the rise of a global civilization and our responsibility for its future. I want to reflect on how both of these themes have evolved – how the promise of a shared civilization has become contested, and how the idea of our responsibility should be understood and shared in new ways.

In 1995, war was raging in the former Yugoslavia – an exception to what many believed was an era of democratic advance and growing international order. Havel reminded world leaders – especially in the United States – of their duty to help stop the fighting.

He said: “It is obvious that those who have the greatest power and influence also bear the greatest responsibility. Like it or not, the United States now probably bears the greatest responsibility for the direction our world will take…”

In making this appeal, Havel was formed by the central trauma of twentieth-century Czech history: the Munich Agreement of 1938, when Czechoslovakia was forced at gunpoint to surrender much of its territory to Nazi Germany – without a seat at the table and against its will.

Although the United States was not a party to the Munich Agreement, Havel recalled a letter sent on 26 September 1938, by President Roosevelt to the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Britain, and France. In it, he urged them to reach some kind of settlement with Hitler. Looking back in 1995, Havel said: “Had he not deceived himself and the whole world into believing that an agreement could be made with this madman, perhaps the Second World War need not have happened.”

But Havel’s appeal to the United States was never one-sided. He was equally clear about our own responsibility for the state of the world, near and far – even at the risk of becoming unpopular at home.

Only a year after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, and long before joining NATO, Czechoslovakia entered the US-led coalition of 42 nations to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm.

Our determination to help stop the bloodshed in former Yugoslavia led not only to Havel’s appeals to President Clinton to act, but also to the deployment of Czech troops in the UNPROFOR, IFOR, and SFOR peacekeeping missions that helped bring peace at last.

The same spirit guided us after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Czechia was among the first to call for invoking Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, and soon after contributed to the international forces in Afghanistan. For twenty years, from 2002 until 2021, Czech soldiers took part in ISAF and Resolute Support operations to keep terrorist groups at bay.

This is a reminder, above all to ourselves, that we must always take our own words about responsibility – and our commitments to it – seriously.

Thirty years after Havel’s speech, the world is not in better shape. In fact, it appears that we lived in one of the most peaceful periods of modern history not so long ago. In 2005, armed conflicts claimed fewer lives than at any time since the Second World War.

Today the trend has reversed. Last year, there were over 60 state-based conflicts; the highest number since 1946. And new wars continue to erupt, from Ukraine to the Middle East. Russia’s war raging to the east of my country has already cost many more lives than the conflict in former Yugoslavia and revived scenes reminiscent of the First World War.

Czechia has responded accordingly. Confronted with direct threats from Russian officials against the West and horrified by the slaughter in Ukraine, we have recognized that in the euphoria of newfound freedom after the Cold War we may have taken European security for granted – and our own responsibility too lightly.

Today we meet the NATO target of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense, and following this year’s summit in The Hague, we have committed to raising that figure to 5% by 2035.

We were also among the first to aid Ukraine after the invasion of February 2022. Almost immediately, Czechia emptied its military stores to deliver badly needed equipment, including heavy armor.

Government agencies, NGOs, and individual citizens have contributed hundreds of millions US dollars in humanitarian aid – food, medicine, and we have hosted over 400,000 refugees, more per capita than any other country.

Furthermore, we have demonstrated our support to the Ukrainians on the ground – in Kyiv and in regions close to the frontline, Dnipro and Charkiv.

Czechia has actively supported all 18 rounds of EU sanctions against Russia, and continues to advocate for more.

We launched the Ammunition Initiative, which has delivered so far up to 5 million rounds of heavy-caliber ammunition to Ukraine’s defenders and remains a crucial supplier.

And yet, together with the contributions of like-minded countries – including first and foremost the United States – this is still not enough. Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has become a single-minded aggressor and a war economy.

Make no mistake, his goals go far beyond the current front lines, or even Ukraine itself. He seeks nothing less than to overturn the post–Cold War international order and to repair what he calls “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20^th century” – the fall of the Soviet Union.

If Putin succeeds, it will not only mean the restoration of a Russian sphere of influence in Central and Eastern Europe. It would also spell the end of freedom, liberty, human rights, and dignity for more than 100 million people.

We acknowledge and appreciate President Trump’s efforts to stop the killing and bring peace to the bloodlands of Eastern Europe. At the same time, we note with regret that neither his good faith, nor that of President Zelensky and the European leaders, has been reciprocated by Russia. President Putin has no real interest in negotiating peace. His goal remains to force Ukraine into submission and to show to the whole world that Russia cannot be defeated.

If we can preserve the unity so clearly demonstrated at the recent transatlantic and European meetings, we have the means to do so – even without direct confrontation with Russia.

First, we must continue to support Ukraine’s armed forces with weapons and equipment, including air defence systems and investments in Ukraine’s own long-range capabilities, allowing it to respond to Russia’s indiscriminate attacks. As President Trump rightly observed: “It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invader’s country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense but is not allowed to play offense.”

Second, we must tighten and coordinate sanctions on the aggressor, while closing the loopholes that allow Russia to circumvent them through third countries. Each of us has our homework to do in this respect, and we intend to deliver on it.

Third, we must be ready to put in place lasting security arrangements for Ukraine once the fighting stops.

The strongest foundation will always be Ukraine’s own army – capable, well-armed, and resilient. But that alone is not enough. Ukraine will also need reassurance from allied forces on the ground, provided by a coalition of the willing. And I want to stress: American support will remain crucial – not as a substitute for European responsibility, but as a backstop and anchor of European security; and in fact, the whole western world's security).

In this respect, Czechs support such a peacekeeping mission. As in all other walks of life, responsibility is in the end demonstrated not by talking the talk but by walking the walk.

Russia and China are challenging the rules, and the international community has fractured. The result is plain to see: more wars, more violence, and a contested world order.

Václav Havel once appealed to America to shoulder responsibility as the mightiest power of his time. He also knew that responsibility was ours as well. Today, the balance has shifted further.

We Europeans, at first taken aback by the speed and scale of the change, are finally getting our act together and assume as much responsibility as the United States – and in our part of the world, even more. This is not only right; it is necessary.

Havel spoke of responsibility as a moral imperative. That remains true. But today, responsibility cannot be understood in moral terms alone. It is also a matter of self-interest.

Ukraine is the place where this is tested. If Russia can tear up borders and treaties there, then none of us can feel secure as all current and future aggressors will learn the lesson.

That is why Europe must shoulder more. And that is why American support is not charity, but a vital investment in our shared security.

We are no longer living in the optimistic climate of the 1990s. The idea of a single, global civilization has given way to a contested international order, some might call it disorder.

Authoritarian powers speak the language of peace, sovereignty, dignity, dialogue, and multilateralism. We saw this at the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and later at the military parade in Beijing, where rivals of the democratic world stood side by side.

But their actions tell a whole different story – one that rejects the very principles we stand for: the UN Charter, international law, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Let´s not play into their hands. Wherever we step back, they are eager to step in.

This is the reality we face. The alliance of democracies must answer the alliance of autocracies – not only with military strength, but with unity of purpose and clarity of vision.

And in that effort, there is no more natural ally for the United States than Europe. If we stand firm together, we have every chance not only to preserve our security, but to renew the promise of freedom and dignity in this century.

Thank you for your attention.

President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel, Harvard University, September 24, 2025