About

Czech Centre Brussels

founded in 1997
contributed to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2009
works with European institutions, Flemish and French speaking communities alike

Czech Centres, a contributory organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, are the core instrument of public diplomacy of the Czech Republic’s foreign policy, and strive to support the reputation of the Czech Republic in the world. As a cultural institute, Czech Centres are members of the network of European cultural institutes – EUNIC. They present our country in a wide range of cultural and social areas: from art through the creative industries to the achievements of Czech science and innovations. They also provide Czech language courses in foreign countries. They participate in international projects and serve as a platform for the development of international cultural dialogue. At present, there are 26 branches across three continents – in addition to Czech Centres these also include the Czech Houses in Moscow, Jerusalem and Bratislava.

Meet the director

Jitka Pánek Jurková

Director, EUNIC Brussels president

Jitka Pánek Jurková, Ph.D., is a long-timecultural diplomacy practitioner and researcher. She gained Master’s degree at the University of Amsterdam. Jitka regularly lectures on cultural diplomacy at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, and spoke at SOAS London, the University of Porto, the University of Haifa and elsewhere. In 2019, Jitka defended her PhD. thesis at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague.
Jitka is the head of Czech Centre Brussels since 2017. Before that, she led the cultural department at the Embassy of Israel in Prague, was a dramaturgist of Bohemian Heritage Fund, etc. Occasionally, Jitka writes for a number of Czech and international media outlets and is the author of podcast on cultural diplomacy Jazzman versus the spies: Art as a secret weapon of international politics.