Report on visit to Liechtenstein

Dear members,

I would like to inform you about the trip to Liechtenstein that the members of the board of our association made on 10 - 12 September 2019 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Liechtenstein. The purpose of our trip also was to make contacts and prepare the ground for a similar trip of our members in forthcoming years.

On Wednesday, 11 September, we first visited the modern building of Parliament in Vaduz and Mr. Leander Schadler told us many interesting things about the Liechtenstein political system.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs we met Dominic Wanger, a deputy director, and Dominic Sprengler, who is in charge of relations with the Czech Republic, they together introduced us the engagement of Liechtenstein in international structures and summarized the Liechtenstein politics in Europe, including the relationship with its closest neighbours and the Czech Republic.

At the Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Liechtenstein, we debated with Dr Thomas Zwiefelhofer, the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Vaduz, a former vice-Premier and Minister of Justice, Interior and Economy and currently a member of our association, who had an interesting presentation on Liechtenstein economy and judicial system.

Before dinner in the excellent princely restaurant Torkel, we visited princely winery in Vaduz surrounded by neat vineyards and overlooking the castle, and we tasted exquisite princely wines from Liechtenstein as well as Wilfersdorf in Austria.

The next day we made a trip to a beautiful mountain resort of Malbun, situated 1600m above sea level and surrounded from all sides by Swiss and Austrian mountains reaching up to 2500 m. Some of us made a splendid round hike along the path of Princess Gina who was the wife of Prince František Josef II Liechtenstein.

At the end of our stay, we visited the Vaduz castle where we were accepted by Hereditary Prince Alois to whom we congratulated on the occasion of the anniversary of Liechtenstein and we informed him in an informal discussion about the activities of our association and our plans for future. We also learnt a lot of interesting information on the history of the castle and the princely family.

Jiří Balaštík

Chairman