Founder of the European Values Think-Tank, Radko Hokovský, has handed over the position of Executive Director to his longtime Deputy Jakub Janda, who also heads the Kremlin Watch Program, which focuses on countering Russia’s hostile influence efforts. Mr. Hokovský will continue working on topics pertaining to mass immigration and Islamist extremism in Europe as the Chairman of the Executive Board and Head of the Internal Security Program.
PRAGUE, February 16, 2018: Jakub Janda, the long-term Deputy Director of European Values Think-Tank and head of its Kremlin Watch Program was appointed Director of the Think-Tank on 16 February 2018. In the field of countering Russia’s hostile influence efforts, the European Values Think-Tank has attained significant international prominence under Mr. Janda’s leadership of the Kremlin Watch Program; it is currently implementing projects with governmental institutions in Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, among others. Mr. Janda also participated in forming the Czech Republic’s defense policy vis-à-vis hostile foreign influence as a consultant to the National Security Audit.
On the leadership change, Radko Hokovský says: “I founded European Values in 2005 and have been its authorized representative and Executive Director for the last eleven years. With our entire team, we have built one of the Czech Republic’s most influential think-tanks, with tangible impact on the state’s foreign, European, and security policy. Today, European Values is a structurally and financially stable organization with a clear strategic plan for the upcoming years. With full trust, I pass on daily management to the new leadership so that I may focus on developing the international dimension of European Values, especially with regard to the urgent topics of mass immigration and Islamist extremism, and further expand my consulting and advisory work with a focus on internal security for governments of the EU and NATO.”
The new leadership of the European Values Think-Tank furthermore consists of Co-Deputy Director Klára Veverka, who is primarily involved in operational and personnel management, and Co-Deputy Director Andrea Michalcová, who is primarily responsible for project management. With respect to the program leadership, the roles of Coordinators were assumed by Veronika Vichová for the Kremlin Watch Program and Jan Stehlík for the Internal Security Program.
Commenting on his appointment, Jakub Janda says: “I have been at European Values for eight years, proceeding from an internship through the roles of Project Coordinator and Deputy Director, and now Director. Our plans and activities will not change – we will continue to defend freedom and democracy, mainly by seeking to prepare the Czech state for the three chief security threats in the European context – an aggressive Russia, mass immigration, and Islamist extremism. We have been working on these topics for a long time now and are adept at translating our recommendations to specific government activities, thus fulfilling our mission to defend liberal democracy and the Czech Republic’s Euro-Atlantic anchor.
“We endeavor to ensure that emerging disputes in domestic politics will not lead to a retreat from the country’s Euro-Atlantic direction and the vigorous advancement of security institutions against the hostile influence of Russia and China in particular.”
