Bureaucrats holding Czechia back but name will catch on, says Professor Petr Pavlínek

Earlier this year the Czech government made international news with its plan to promote “Czechia” as a snappy alternative to the cumbersome “the Czech Republic”. So far how has successful has this rebranding exercise actually been? I discussed that question and more with Professor Petr Pavlínek, a geographer who teaches at Charles University and at the University of Nebraska. He’s a member of the group Civic Initiative Czechia, which began by advocating for the Czech-language name Česko before focusing on its English equivalent. I first asked Professor Pavlínek what were the key arguments in favour of using “Czechia”.