Ad That Big Moment For Czechs? Not So Big
The view of the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, offered in today's NYT article about Barack Obama's visit here demonstrates how well Vaclav Klaus and his people have succeeded in creating an image of him as a steadfast, free-market Thatcherite and a staunch defender of right-wing values. The problem with this view, however, is that it only works abroad and/or for people who don't know him.
In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. As prime minister in the early to mid- 90's Vaclav Klaus presided over a period known as 'bank socialism' when untold millions of dollars were embezzled and hitherto thriving companies intentionally driven to bankruptcy by their well-connected, post-Communist owners, their assets ending in their bosses' private bank accounts. Viktor Kozeny - the notorious Pirate of Prague - who had robbed thousands of Czechs of their life-time savings and subsequently fooled a number of US investors into investing in phoney privatizations in post-Soviet republics, also owes his rise to this period which, incidentally, enriched the international vocabulary with the term 'tunneling' (a euphemism for theft).
Likewise, in foreign policy Vaclav Klaus has pursued a distinctly anti-European and pro-Russian course. His almost pathological opposition to the EU is notorious and a butt of jokes throughout Europe, as well as being a nightmare for every Czech government. It also happens to be in keeping with Russia's European policy of 'divide and rule'. Last summer he, alone among European leaders, followed the Kremlin's lead in condemning Georgia for provoking the events leading up to the Russian invasion. His admiration of Vladimir Putin, links to shady Russian oligarchs and former KGB officers are a not-so-well-kept secret in this country. His Reaganite posturing abroad should therefore be taken with a grain of salt, to say the least.
For letters@nytimes.com
April 3rd 2009
In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. As prime minister in the early to mid- 90's Vaclav Klaus presided over a period known as 'bank socialism' when untold millions of dollars were embezzled and hitherto thriving companies intentionally driven to bankruptcy by their well-connected, post-Communist owners, their assets ending in their bosses' private bank accounts. Viktor Kozeny - the notorious Pirate of Prague - who had robbed thousands of Czechs of their life-time savings and subsequently fooled a number of US investors into investing in phoney privatizations in post-Soviet republics, also owes his rise to this period which, incidentally, enriched the international vocabulary with the term 'tunneling' (a euphemism for theft).
Likewise, in foreign policy Vaclav Klaus has pursued a distinctly anti-European and pro-Russian course. His almost pathological opposition to the EU is notorious and a butt of jokes throughout Europe, as well as being a nightmare for every Czech government. It also happens to be in keeping with Russia's European policy of 'divide and rule'. Last summer he, alone among European leaders, followed the Kremlin's lead in condemning Georgia for provoking the events leading up to the Russian invasion. His admiration of Vladimir Putin, links to shady Russian oligarchs and former KGB officers are a not-so-well-kept secret in this country. His Reaganite posturing abroad should therefore be taken with a grain of salt, to say the least.
For letters@nytimes.com
April 3rd 2009