Embassy Events
Original "Pittsburgh Agreement" of 1918 Presented to Slovak Public in New Exhibit
May 30, 2008
To mark the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Pittsburgh Agreement -- a declaration by Czech and Slovak Americans and Czechoslovak statesman Tomas Masaryk of their aspirations for an independent republic -- the Embassy has sponsored a new exhibit, including the original document, on loan from the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. At the opening of the Embassy-sponsored exhibit at Parliament on May 30, Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ján Kubiš spoke of the Agreement as the foundation for cooperation between the U.S. and Slovakia that exists today in the security, education and economic spheres. Ambassador Vincent Obsitnik -- himself a Slovak-American -- said: "The Pittsburgh Agreement represented a major step on the long road to independence for Slovakia and tangible proof of the support America has offered and offers to this day to Slovakia and its people." The exhibit of the original signed Agreement, consisting of historic photo's and documents, is on display May 30 - June 5 in the foyer of the Parliament building in Bratislava, then June 9 -July 31 at the Slovak National Museum. The Pittsburgh Agreement, signed on May 31, 1918 at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, prepared the way for the creation of the state of Czechoslovakia. In October, 1918, the primary author of the agreement, Tomas G. Masaryk, declared the independence of Czechoslovakia on the steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA.