Future leaders convene in Prague for exclusive Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Duke Wenceslas programme
The Duke Wenceslas Future Leaders Programme, which welcomes the diplomats, activists and political analysts of the future to Czechia, has been successfully completed for a second year. Organised by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the scheme this year welcomed ten participants from eight countries, and gave them an in-depth look at Czech life and politics.
Following the success of last year’s programme, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has again hosted representatives from eight different countries, who spent ten days enjoying Czechia and looking behind the curtain of Czech politics and diplomacy.
To participate, these future leaders had to meet certain criteria, including their country of origin. This year’s participants represented countries of the Eastern Partnership (including Ukraine and Georgia), from the Western Balkans and from Turkey. The ministry hopes that such programmes will strengthen relations between those countries and Czechia.
Ahead of the programme’s commencement, I went along to talk to its main coordinator, Ivan Dubovický, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I asked him about the process by which the ten future leaders were selected:
“We announce the programme through our embassies in the selected countries, and then the applicants send us their personal data, their experience, and so on. Then a commission at the ministry made the final choice.”
The chosen ten participants experienced a ten-day programme of meetings, cultural events and leisure time, with accommodation, meals and transport paid for. The programme included chances to meet senior politicians, such as the President of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil, as well as diplomats and business leaders. The schedule of events was not limited to Prague, but also included trips to Plzeň, Brno, Kutná Hora and the eastern region of Moravian Wallachia. Dr Dubovický told me about what he hoped the group would gain from the experience:
“First of all, we firmly hope that this is the beginning of future cooperation, not only for our ministry, but in any other area – journalism, business, in the political sphere, and so on. The main reason is to bring back to their home countries our experience of the democratisation of our society. We expect to be in touch with all of them in the future, either directly through the ministry or through our embassies.”
The learning, however, would go both ways; Dr Dubovický noted that, given the backgrounds of the participants, they could offer interesting experiences and different perspectives for the Czech side of things.
“There are many challenges, be it minority policy or human rights issues, that some of these countries are facing. We have a representative from Belarus, and we know how the situation is there. There are two representatives from Kosovo; one is representing Kosovo Serbians and the other Kosovo Albanians, and we are interested to hear their view about how to solve these ethnic and minority issues.”
On the 25th of September, with the programme nearly over, I headed back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet some of the participants. There, in the splendid setting of the Czernin Palace, the organisers and the participants thanked each other, and certificates of completion were awarded.
Giorgi Jokhadze, from Georgia, is a researcher at the Ilia Chavchavadze Centre of European Studies and Civic Education in Tbilisi, and he shared his very positive experience of the previous few days:
“I’ve had one of the greatest experiences of my life. I will try my best to use this knowledge and experience for the betterment of my country and my people."
Giorgi commented on the topic of European integration, which is a pressing issue in Georgia at the moment.
“You may know that Georgia has a pro-European stance; approximately 85% of people support Georgia’s integration with the European Union and also NATO. We are striving to join these Euro-Atlantic structures. We may learn a lot from Czechia, because Czechia joined the EU exactly twenty years ago. If we compare the situation in Czechia in 2024, and how things are today, I think everything has changed for the better. I think the Czech experience, as well as that of other countries who joined the EU twenty or twenty-five years ago, will help us to become better, and to learn something in economics, politics, international relations, in other spheres of politics. That would be amazing.”
It was clear that friendships and close bonds had been formed over the course of the programme. Giorgi had this to say about his fellow participants:
“I am completely amazed by them. I only met them ten days ago, and I’ve already fallen in love with them. They are wonderful people and they are future leaders of their countries. I will try my best to continue these friendships for the rest of my life. No one knows what kind of benefits our countries can have through this kind of personal relationships. I also support these countries’ striving for European and Euro-Atlantic integration.”
I then spoke with Anastasiia Khymychuk, representing her country of Ukraine, about the process of joining the programme and what she had hoped to experience.
“I was invited to come here by the Czech embassy in Ukraine. I had several expectations, mainly meetings with local authorities, like at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I expected to have informal conversations with them, maybe to exchange contacts, and I managed to do so. I’m hoping that will help us to do our job.”
I asked Anastasiia about what had been most useful for her over the previous ten days; clearly the exchanges of experiences and knowledge occurred not only between the ministry and the participants, but also among the participants themselves.
“The most useful thing for me … You know, all of the participants came from very difficult places, and I was living in my Ukrainian world and war. Sharing those experiences that people have, in post-conflict countries like Kosovo, was very mind-opening for me, because I have not thought of them before. I do not think about my future and the future of my country. Now we are at war, and we have difficult things to deal with, mainly Russian troops, but it was a really valuable experience for me, for those people to share their experiences with me. I started to think about the result, what we are going to face in the future, what mistakes we will have to avoid, so that we do not end up in a difficult position again.
“Yesterday, when I had my last evening with my peers, we were talking about the situations in our countries, and I understood one thing: even though we are at war in Ukraine, I see the future. I see the issues of democracy. We are being considered to be a part of the European Union, and we will be there, I hope.”
The war in Ukraine may be a constant topic in the news of European countries, but it was nonetheless illuminating to get the view from inside the country. Anastasiia praised countries like Czechia for its response to the war and its leadership in certain areas of support, but also pushed back against certain external opinions of Ukraine.
“I think Czechia is one of our most valuable partners, because of its initiatives, like how Czechia was the first country to consider frozen [Russian] assets to be a source of money for Ukraine. That was a great example, and we asked other countries to do the same for us … I really appreciate the things that Czechia and other European countries are doing for us. But still, I really do not want to say it, but it’s not enough until we win the war.
“We are a really democratic country, really. Even though we have corruption, even though we have Russia near us, even though we have Soviet heritage, the only authority in my country is my nation. That’s how democracy should be.”
A similar appreciation for Czech support was also expressed by her fellow Ukrainian participant Yuliia Kryzhanovska, who noted that Czechia is a country that helps “not with words, but with actions”.
When talking to people like Yulia and Anastasiia, you have the feeling that you are face to face with the future of a country. Not only is Anastasiia intellectually engaged in the world of current politics and diplomacy, she has also begun to play a practical role and has ambitions to be actively involved in the next generation of Ukrainian leaders.
“I have a dream! I want my think tank, which I have been in charge of since January 2024, to be a strong voice. I want it to be a think tank that does not just criticise, but also makes recommendations and helps authorities, mostly defence authorities … We have a voice, but I want it to be stronger”.
I left Anastasiia with the final question of what her favourite memory will be of her time in Prague. While most visitors might say Charles Bridge or chimney cakes, she shared the memory of the warm welcome that she and the group received during their tour around Strahov Monastery.
“The most valuable memory for me, among all those meetings which were really great, was the way a priest at Strahov Monastery behaved with us. He offered a member of our group the chance to play the organ, and he played the organ just for us. That was so adorable. In Ukraine, we still have all these pro-Russian priests and I cannot imagine them behaving the same way. I want Ukraine to end up being a country with priests who behave themselves how he did.”
Also part of the group was Mesut Biliciturk, a Turkish human-rights lawyer, who works with vulnerable groups in society, such as LGBT people, immigrants and people living with HIV. I first asked Mesut what interested him about the programme, and whether he had been to the country before. He told me that it was the chance to look behind the scenes of politics, something that has not been an option for him in Turkey.
“It’s my first time in Czechia, and second time outside Turkey. The first time was in Bristol, the second time was here. It was really, really good to be here and a part of this programme. Actually, I’ve never actually been part of a governmental programme in my country. I’ve never been to the parliament in Turkey. Here it was really good to see how things work with politicians, bureaucrats and diplomats. It is really a milestone for me.”
Mesut told me that he will finish the programme in Prague more confident about political change in Turkey.
“I always thought, in Turkey, that it was not okay for me to work in the government. After this programme, I’ve started thinking, ‘maybe some things will change from inside the government, and why should I not be a part of it?’”
We discussed LGBT issues in Czechia, and Mesut offered his frank opinions on the current legal and social situation.
“Everyone’s thinking ‘yeah, it’s okay’, but we still need to improve ourselves. Czechia recognises same-sex couples, but this is not equal to marriage. This is something that Czechia needs to improve on. I said that directly to the director of the human-rights programme here, and she said ‘yeah, we know, we need to improve in that area’. Nobody’s perfect, I know, and I understand the political situation here. It’s better than Turkey of course, and they even put up a flag here during Pride month. In Turkey it’s not banned officially, but you cannot open a Pride flag anywhere.”
Mesut, like Anastasiia, surprised me with his single stand-out memory from the ten-day programme. It reflected well on Czech society.
“I do not remember right now which institute we visited, but there was this one person protesting on his own. He was protesting something about the government by himself. It was really good to see this person using his freedom of expression. This was the most valuable memory for me.”
As the participants embraced each other and quickly exchanged contact details before some headed to the airport, it was clear to see that this year’s Duke Wenceslas Future Leaders programme was a success.
