Unique visit at the University of Hradec Králové, the exhibition of the Constitution May 3 opened representatives from four states

Even under those tough times, the representatives mentioned above accompanied with the officials of the Hradec Králové Region and the city of Hradec Králové accepted the UHK invitation. Moreover, they managed to open an outdoor exhibition at the same time that can be seen in the Students' park UHK, Common Education Facility, till November 29, 2021. Our pride is that those guests found time to pay a visit to support us and discuss further opportunities for cooperation, not to mention our colleague from the Institute of History, dr. Jan Květina is the author of an exhibition entitled "Republic of Two Nations | A Story of the First European Constitution" that connects all those nations. 

The topic is quite apparent, and Jan Květina, as a historian, puts us to a closer understanding of the evolvement within those territories.  

"I am delighted that despite the cold weather in November, the citizens of Hradec Králové have the opportunity to learn about the fascinating, in many ways tragic, the fate of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and to discover that the roots of constitutionalism and civic participation in Central Europe are not to be sought outside our own space, but in our own history. The exhibition offers a unique testimony to a time when the inhabitants of the Commonwealth in what is now in many aspects Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine understood themselves as civic brothers and saw their freedom not as arbitrariness but as the freedom of their republic. Here, too, lies a powerful remembrance of the first European Constitution, the Polish-Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791," comments Jan Květina.

The importance of defending democracy is an act that every state should bear in mind. "As 230y ago, the Polish, Lithuanian & Belarusian, people stand together defending freedom," a very realistic comment made by Dzianis Kuchynski, Foreign Affairs Officer of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

After the exhibition, an official meeting followed. "The University of Hradec Králové shares common values and sees big potential in further cooperation. In addition to the historical events, we hope to have a prosperous future in joint activities that positively influence all parties. In the meeting, an idea was raised when all the representatives said they would like to come together and pass on their knowledge to the UHK students. We believe that this event could be very motivating for our students and citizens of the Hradec Králové Region, generally speaking. I believe with this meeting, we have supported and strengthened our already existing cooperation," summarizes Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Leona Stašová. 

The UHK already has several bilateral agreements between the universities in those countries. Let the numbers speak for themselves; twenty-six agreements with Polish institutions and six with Lithuanian organizations. Moreover, strong interest can be found within the students of the Faculty of Education UHK who very frequently choose the option to study in Poland to gain some experience. On top of that, UHK scientists and researchers from both countries have been publishing together. The outputs can be found on the Web of Science. Last, there has been cooperation with Lithuanian Vilnius University when both universities participate in the same project. From this point of view, UHK keeps working on developing more opportunities not only for students but also for scientists.