Latest posts
Banning the DS and Opening a Discussion
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When the Czech Supreme Administrative Court (Nejvyšší správní soud) in Brno ruled to abolish the Workers’ Party (Dělnická strána) on 17 February, on the grounds that the party’s program was extremist, condoned violent acts and pos...
The Limits of Pragmatism
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I just read a commentary on openDemocracy by Rein Mullerson, an expert in international law and the rector of Tallinn University Nord. In it, Mullerson argues that cooler heads who sincerely want to understand Russia must realize that the Kremlin s...
He Gives, and He Gives, and He Gives
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Spotted this recently on BBC Monitoring. I think if I had private chefs and jets and the enforced adulation of a captive populace, I might be a “Good Natured Angel of Peace,” too. True, some of his people are reduced to eating grass to su...
Either, or.
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With the run-off vote in the Ukrainian presidential elections looming on Sunday, accusations about political and electoral shenanigans are swirling; the plant responsible for printing ballots was raided in an attempt to seize it, with both Viktor Yan...
Political instability in Romania
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The manner in which an electoral campaign progresses can be a good indication of a country’s political, social and economic situation and the developments in Romania’s recent elections paint a complex picture of the country’s dynami...
Czech Bowling
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Civil society in the post-Communist region is a topic of intense academic and political discussion; it is one aspect of the transition process that is most difficult to assess and perhaps the one that is the most crucial to its ultimate success. It h...
Acknowledgement but action?
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Although there are no official statistics on the number of Roma women who have undergone forced sterilisation in the Czech Republic, there seems to be an increasing recognition of the problem; that the government “expressed regret” yester...
Was President Klaus right? Pessimism, part II.
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Do you know what does it mean “stipend” in Latvia? It is minimal state support given to rising numbers of unemployed people. It is 100 lats, approx. 140 euro and is given only to people who participate in municipal or state public works.
Darkness after twenty years
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It is not about energy security, as you might guess after Brazilian black out and new Ukrainian negotiations on gas delivery. This is supposed to be about how we, Czechs in particular, and Central Europeans in general, feel twenty years after what on...
What has won? Klaus, not Czech Republic.
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All four major Czech newspapers have the headline on the frontpage today: Klaus has won over Europe or Klaus has defeated Europe (Brussels). Even the same headline has also newspaper where I am employed, I would strongly disagree with this interpreta...
Bitter Biden in new Europe
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So, we have Joe Biden in Europe (today in Poland, Thursday in Romania and if it is Friday, it must be Prague). What to expect after midnight calls cancelling work of one generation of Czech and Polish politicians? Nothing special. We like you, you ar...
Czechs are not Klaus
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Press release: Even I am not an official spokeperson of Czech nation, nor Czech government and of Czech president not at all, I would like to share with the rest of Europe following statements: 1) I am not Eurooptimist in sense that I would believe...
Vaclav and Goliath
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Vaclav Klaus is in Moscow today, no doubt enjoying the Kremlin’s approbation for the fat middle finger he waved at Europe last week. As the Western media likes to point out, the Czech president is fond of likening the European Union to the So...
The Unreligious Czechs
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Pope Benedict XVI’s three-day visit to the Czech Republic was capped off with an open-air mass in Stará Boleslav which coincided with St. Wenceslas Day. The symbolism was obvious; a mass on the name-day of the Czech patron saint, in the town wher...
Klaus has got crazy
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Czech president Vaclav Klaus, who I consider more and more not MY president, is in the US. Beside his obvious remarks on climate change he delivered a speech and then interview to conservative daily Washington Times, where he mentioned with referenc...
Civil Society Forum: live stream & chat
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Today and in the future – what is the role of civil society organizations in the public space? Global issues and new tools for civic engagement are influencing CEE societies as well as the rest of the world. The Trust for Civil Society in Central a...
Saints and Sinners
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I’ve been trying to decide what to make of the hurt feelings and prickliness surrounding the recent World War II commemorations. Quite naturally, the Allied countries in Europe and the United States view their roles in the war as heroic. Sacrificin...
Crisis: Short summers ends, frost is coming (again)
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There are big headlines about historical debate on the origins and first weeks of the Second World War ongoing now due to visit of Russian Prime Minister in Poland. Expectations were maybe too high from his speech, but at least in Poland debate about...
Giving up the ghost (of Trianon)
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If you ever wanted to know anything about the history of Slovak-Hungarian relations, just look at what they’re like now; the latest incarnation of the Slovak state language law is fairly indicative. Having spent the better part of the last thou...
20 years after: tell us your story
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Where were you in ‘89? The legacy of that revolutionary year is not just something for the historians. It lives on in the stories of Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Hungarians, Bulgarians and Romanians who lived through it. TOL wants to hear yours. As...
