Vaclav Klaus

Vaclavklaus, the second president of the Czech Republic, was elected twice as president in 2003 and 2008, and is one of the most influential political leaders in the post communist period of Eastern Europe. Klaus graduated from the School of Foreign Trade at the University of Economics in Prague, and later pursued further studies at Cornell University in Italy and the United States in 1966 and 1969, respectively. After completing his studies, Klaus worked at the Economic Research Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. After the upheaval in Eastern Europe, Klaus became the main designer of economic reforms in Czechoslovakia. In 1989, he was elected as the Minister of Finance of the Czech government, embarking on the country's economic recovery. In 1990, he was elected as the Chairman of the Czech Citizen Forum and began serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic in 1991. In 1991, Klaus became the leader of the Civic Democratic Party. In 1992, Klaus became the Prime Minister of the Czech government and began negotiations with Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Mechal regarding the independence of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. On January 1, 1993, Vaclavklaus declared the Czech Republic as an independent country in his capacity as Prime Minister. Vaclav Klaus and Vaclav Javier, the first President of the Czech Republic, jointly made outstanding contributions to the economic development and takeoff of the Czech Republic. In 1996, Klaus, who had served as Czech Prime Minister for four years, successfully elected with the help of then President Javier and was re elected as Czech Prime Minister in 1997. During this period, Czech President Vaclav Javier proposed the implementation of a privatization policy for state-owned enterprise reform. His policy later laid the foundation for the rapid transition of the Czech Republic from a planned economy to a free market economy. Klaus is known as the chief architect of the modern Czech Republic. Currently, he travels around the world, delivering speeches on contemporary global political and economic issues.