http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/06/25/masters-and-servant.php
Masters and servant
The Czech Republic could do the world a favor by acting independent
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June 25th, 2008 issue
By James George Jatras
For a country nearly 20 years removed from Soviet domination, the Czech
Republic doesn’t always act like a sovereign and independent state — at
least when it comes to its relationship with my country, Big Brother
across the Atlantic. Indeed, at times it seems that Czechs have only
exchanged one set of overseers for another.
Case in point: Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek’s March 30 statement, “If
we did not have to recognize Kosovo, I would never do it.” A few weeks
later, Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg announced Prague’s
recognition and upgrading of the Czech Republic’s liaison office in
Pristina to an embassy. Echoing Topolánek, Schwarzenberg noted, “Our
government had no other choice.”
Both before and after recognition, there was little doubt where Czech
public opinion and much of the Czech political establishment stood on
the Kosovo question. The action was resisted by both the Christian
Democrats, whose ministers in the government voted against it, the
opposition Social Democrats and, of course, the Communists. President
Václav Klaus told the departing Serbian ambassador he was ashamed of
what had been done.
Perhaps most outspoken was former foreign affairs minister and UN
special rapporteur for human rights Jiří Dienstbier, who noted the
bitter irony of the Cabinet voting on Kosovo in Teplice, in the
territory ceded to Germany under the 1938 Munich Agreement. Most of the
world’s countries have declined to recognize Kosovo’s illegal claim of
independence due to their own restive minorities or because they have a
“sense of shame,” said Dienstbier.
Topolánek and Schwarzenberg did not disclose why they felt compelled to
act contrary to the wishes of the Czech public, but Dienstbier did: “The
pressure exerted on the ‘disobedient’ ones is huge, both by America and
the EU’s ‘elite members.’ It’s hard to say how many will succumb to that
pressure.”
Translation: Prague had received the edict from on high, and that was that.
Such craven capitulation to the United States, and to the more
lickspittle of our European satellites, would be troubling enough if it
were limited to Kosovo. But it isn’t. How many Czechs favor deployment
in their country of the radar base that Washington claims will defend
Europe against Iranian missiles? How many support having Czech soldiers
serving in Afghanistan and Iraq? But, as with Kosovo, what the Czech
people think isn’t important.
On almost every question of national significance, the views of many
Czech politicians diverge sharply from what the people want. Can it be
that, after decades of Soviet, and before that German, overlordship,
Czechs have so meekly surrendered their sovereignty to a new master?
What accounts for the spectacle of Czech officials falling over
themselves in their rush to obey commands from Washington even more
abjectly than their predecessors heeded those from Moscow?
As an American, I can’t help but wonder how this works. After Parliament
and the people have voiced their opinion, does someone in the Czech
government just dial up the U.S. Embassy in Prague for instructions? Or
do they call Washington directly? Are threats involved, or do we have
our European allies so well-trained that threats are unnecessary?
Perhaps Czech leaders have developed such cozy personal ties with their
friends in Washington that they identify more closely with them than
with their own countrymen. Both Klaus and Topolánek were in Washington
earlier this year for photo ops in the Oval Office with President George
W. Bush, then a private chat with Vice President Dick Cheney. Topolánek
even brought a gift for Bush, a fine Czech shotgun — minus the
ammunition, since regulations prohibit transport of loaded weapons on
government aircraft. It seemed like a pretty good trade for the U.S.
side: The Czechs give us a shotgun, and in return they have to take our
radar system.
The standard explanation for such behavior is that the Czech Republic is
a little country that can’t afford to defy its “partners” in NATO and
the European Union. But the EU doesn’t have a unified position on
Kosovo. Slovakia had the courage to refuse. Even tiny Cyprus managed to
say no. And nothing in the North Atlantic Treaty can force any country
to accept components of the missile system. But the Czech government
would apparently rather place its own people under retargeted Russian
nuclear weapons than allow citizens to decide the radar question by
referendum.
Prague’s current subservience is as baffling to me as it is disturbing.
I served most of my professional life in the apparat of the U.S.
government, at both the State Department and in Congress. My early
career was dedicated to restoring the freedom and independence of
countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Later, I worked to extend the
reach of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America. Perhaps
it was misplaced idealism, but it never occurred to me at the time that
the main result, and perhaps intent, of such efforts was not freedom in
the ordinary meaning of the word, but creation of a unipolar global order.
These concerns may sound odd coming from an American, especially from a
conservative Republican. After all, my country supposedly receives the
benefits of this “allied solidarity.” The freedom and unity of the Czech
Republic is not my concern, but that of the Czech people. Why should I
care if the Czech lands are reduced to our very own Protektorat Böhmen
und Mähren?
Here’s why: Our European and other friends have become enablers of our
post-Cold War hegemonic binge. When someone has had too much to drink,
real friends take his car keys away, not offer to join him on a joy
ride. If my country had friends who would stand up to us and just say no
when a narrow clique in Washington hatches schemes for destructive
escapades, our global adventurism would be restrained. We would have
less occasion to find ourselves stuck with limitless and costly
commitments in distant parts of the world that do not concern us,
embroiled in other peoples’ quarrels in which we have no business. We
Americans would benefit most of all.
A Czech Republic that had rediscovered its dignity, independence and
solidarity between people and government would be a true friend of
America. Let Czech citizens vote on the radar deployment — and for what
my opinion is worth, reject it. Withdraw your soldiers from harm’s way
in Mesopotamia and the Hindu Kush. Revoke your recognition of Kosovo
through a democratic vote in parliament.
Czechs, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains! And in doing
so, you will be doing my country a big favor as well.
— The author is an attorney, a principal at Squire Sanders Public
Advocacy in Washington, D.C., and director of the American Council for
Kosovo. Before entering the private sector he was for many years senior
foreign policy adviser to the U.S. Senate Republican leadership, and
before that an officer in the U.S. diplomatic service.
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