European Values () is a Czech

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

founded in 2005 and financed from some governments. Often self-styled as the European Values Center for Security Policy, its incentive is to raise political culture in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

as well as on the European level. It defines European values as

personal freedom Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

human dignity Dignity is a human's contentment attained by satisfying physiological needs and a need in development. The content of contemporary dignity is derived in the new natural law theory as a distinct human good. As an extension of the Age of Enlighten ...

solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

, active civil society,

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...

, democracy and rule of law. The organization promotes closer ties of the Czech Republic with the geopolitical

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and fighting what it considers extremist ideologies.

Activities

The European Values organizes public and non-public debates, lectures, seminars and conferences. Among these are "Public debates on disinformation", the HOMEAFFAIRS – Internal Security Forum Prague and Stratcom Summit, which is marketed as informing about "Russian disinformation operations". Its analyses, policy papers and opinion articles published in newspapers or online share a similar thematic focus. A major program of the

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

is Kremlin Watch, which "aims to expose and confront instruments of Russian influence and disinformation operations focused against Western democracies". Under this program, it awards the "

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

's Champion Award" to European politicians and other public figures the think tank perceives as supporting the current

government of Russia The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...

. In October 2017 the organization released a report titled "The Kremlin's Platform for 'Useful Idiots' in the West: An Overview of RT's Editorial Strategy and Evidence of Impact", including a list of 2326 persons of public significance primarily in the West who have appeared as guests on RT. Jakub Janda, Deputy Director of the European Values, has accused the Czech president

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician who served as the third president of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023. He also previously served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...

of being a "Russian Trojan Horse".

European Values Initiative

In April 2015, the European Values Initiative was introduced as a movement aimed at strengthening the principles of

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

in Europe via series of debates. The Initiative was backed by various Czech political figures, such as

Petr Kolář Petr Kolář (born 27 September 1962) is a Czech politician and diplomat, who has served as the Czech ambassador to several countries, including Russia (2010-2012) and the United States (2005-2010). Diplomatic career Kolář has held numerous p ...

Libor Rouček Libor Rouček (born 4 September 1954 in Kladno) is a Czech politician who was Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2014 with the Czech Social Democratic Party. He was a former member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic from ...

and

Štefan Füle Štefan Füle (born 24 May 1962) is a former Czech Republic, Czech diplomat who served as the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy from February 2010 until October 2014. Early life and education Füle was born ...

Financing

The organisation is not linked to any political party. It is sponsored by various institutions and private donors. Some of the donors are International Visegrad Fund (Dutch government), Foreign & Commonwealth Office, British Embassy Prague, U.S. Embassy in The Czech Republic, Representation of European Commission in the Czech Republic, Embassy of the State of Israel, Embassy of Ukraine in Prague, Netherlands embassy in Prague. All financial data can be viewed on a transparent bank account.

References

External links

*
The newest proposal from the "European Values'" think tank is unrealistic and at odds with the law
– the Multicultural Centre Prague. {{Authority control Think tanks based in the Czech Republic