Representative Editorial Board Annual Meeting and Launching the Security and Defence Technologies Catalogue 2017-2018

Nowhere in the world, any editorial board presidium of similarly oriented magazines can proudly present so many competent and erudite personas of security community, said Miloš Soukup, lone-time former Editor-in-Chief of the Reviews and MS Line director during the editorial board meeting. All present to the meeting clapped their hands to his words.

At the beginning of the meeting, Jiří Hynek evaluated both magazines activities and prospects not only in 2017. Among others, he suggested to discuss via survey cards, semestral vision of CDIS Review and acquainted the auditorium with the different role of the two periodicals in promoting Czech defence industry home and abroad. Editor-in-Chief Šárka Cook presented the publication plans and distribution network of the magazines in 2017, pointing out IDEX 2017, Defence and Security Industry Associa­tion’s (DSIA) general assembly, IDET, PYROS, ISET 2017, NATO Days and other exhibitions in Kielce, London and Paris. General Bečvář appreciated the continuously improving cooperation with AOBP and its media platform and talked about the useful participation of the Czech defence industry representatives to his business trips abroad propagating Czech reputation in the world. Maj.-Gen. Drahoslav Ryba accented the opportunity of the Fire Rescue System presentation in Reviews, and magazines’ educative role. He thanked the auditorium for the chance to immediate discussion of the issues related to general security as well as some common details. Deputy minister of defence Tomáš Kuchta broadly explained the policy of and the ways to implement the Strategy of armament and defence industry support and observed the current balance of the magazines resulting in their optimum usage and distribution. Deputy minister’s posi­tive assessment of the economic diplomacy project contributed by three ministries was supported by the deputy minister of foreign affairs Miloslav Stašek who revealed some funding details of the programme. Martin Šperl said the support to Czech defence industry with its added sophisticated support stands permanently a priority of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and is in the same way considered in the Ministry’s strategy until 2020. He highlighted the cooperation with CDIS Review, primarily within ministry’s displays at trade fairs officially attended also by AOBP, such as Abu Dhabi, Paris, London, in prospective Kuala Lumpur, but also at the incoming missions such as at FFF 2016. He also mentioned the need for synergic actions of the ministries of industry and trade, of defence and of foreign affairs, and for connecting parti­cular partial activities, as well as the necessary diversification of pro­duction and action. Col Martin Hrinko and Brig Petr Dohnal underlined and appreciated the significance of the magazines to the support of stable security environment. The importance of the support of research, development and innovation, as well as of scientific and production foresight reflected in the speeches given by the House of Representatives member of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Antonín Seďa and ex-representative and honorary chairman of the board of editors Miloš Titz, CSc. All in auditorium listened with high interest to the analysis of the attitudes, resonating through the Czech Republic, to the EU regulation at that time under preparation on firearm acquisition and possession, presented by Milena Bačkovská working for the Ministry of the Interior security policy department.

Its Editor-in-Chief Eva Soukupova launched in collaboration with DSIA president Jiří Hynek, Czech Army Chief of General Staff General Josef Bečvář and the member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Antonín Seďa, the new, already tenth in order issue of the Security and Defence Technologies Catalogue 2017-2018 applauded by almost 200 guests. They had been invited to come from the Czech Republic as well as from abroad to the launch ceremony and to the following ceremony of awarding the outstanding personas and companies within the Czech defence and security community in 2016.

Antonín Svěrák