Czech communities abroad have played an important role in shaping the country’s past and present, from the Pittsburgh Agreement leading to an independent Czechoslovakia, through helping the underground dissent in the communist years, to promoting the country’s good name abroad in the present day. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to highlight the role of Czechs abroad and forge stronger bonds with their homeland by instituting a Day of Czechs Abroad.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček  has launched a public poll to help select the specific date, choosing from five historically significant dates for Czech expats.

Which date should be commemorated as "Day of Czechs Abroad"?

December 23 (1989) – The day when foreign ministers Hans Dietrich Genscher and Jiri Dienstbier cut through the barbed wire of the Rozvadov -Waidhaus Czech-German border crossing, in the tumultuous days of 1989, reuniting the long-divided nations.

July 1 (1932) – marks the first congress of Czechs and Slovaks abroad which took place in July 1932, and the meeting of compatriots in 1998 within the first Week of Czechs Abroad

March 7 (1850) - March 7th is the birthday of Czechoslovakia‘s first president T.G. Masaryk. The first Masaryk Day of Czechs and Slovaks Abroad was celebrated in 1934 under the auspices of President Masaryk to highlight the community’s crucial role in the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia.

April 17 (1826) - Vojtěch Náprstek is considered to be the spiritual father of Czech journalism in America and the first “consul” of all Czech expats. He encouraged Czech Americans to organize and publish their own Czech newspapers.

February 4 (1628) - the day philosopher and pedagogue Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius)  left the Czech Lands in 1628. The Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian led schools and advised governments across Protestant Europe in the 17th century. He is considered the father of modern education.

You can vote here by July 31, 2020