Aug 30th 2007
From The Economist print edition
The heirs of Vaclav Havel deserve more respect in Europe for supporting
democrats abroad
THERE are two quick ways to become a misfit in a club you have just
joined. The first is to flout its rules and values; the second is to
take them too seriously. Take the European Union and its commitment to
promoting democracy and human rights, values so central to Europe's
identity that they appear in the opening paragraphs of the new EU
"reform treaty".
On the face of it, this should be good news for the Czech Republic. In
the three years since it joined the union, it has earned a reputation
for promoting human rights at every turn. Czech officials regard their
newly minted EU membership as a chance to influence a club with global
clout, and throw Europe's weight behind democrats everywhere from
Myanmar to Belarus, Moldova and Cuba (a particular Czech obsession).
Indeed, there is a whole unit inside the Czech foreign ministry devoted
to helping dissidents in other countries.
Alas, inside the Brussels foreign-policy machine such concerns are an
irritant. EU diplomats describe the Czech Republic as out on a limb,
even "unprofessional", when it makes emotional points about freedom that
are far off the agenda of given meetings. When the Czechs speak about
Cuba, there is particular eye-rolling and checking of watches. The
Czechs do not really believe their rhetoric, murmur old-school
diplomats; they are merely acting as "message boys" for the Americans.
True, there are other members of the club who will sometimes confront
dictators (at least when it does not cost them too much). Depending on
the issue, the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Britain, France,
Poland and some of the Baltic states stand out for their (intermittent)
displays of moral fibre. But to a striking degree, it is the Czechs who
ask uncomfortable questions about democratic values, even in internal EU
exchanges on issues such as Taiwan or the Balkans that never become public.
Czech officials say they are motivated in part by their memories of Nazi
and Soviet oppression (though several other ex-communist EU nations with
similar histories appear rather less fussed about human rights). A
bigger reason, all agree, is the moral example set by Vaclav Havel, an
ex-dissident writer and the country's first post-communist president—not
least his role in ensuring that ex-dissidents filled key government
positions, notably in the higher ranks of the foreign ministry.
Are the Czechs merely paying lip service to promoting democracy in Cuba,
as Brussels types suggest? Simon Panek, director of a prominent Czech
human-rights and development outfit, People in Need, ponders the
question. Well, he replies mildly, every March since 2003, when Fidel
Castro locked up 75 political opponents, People in Need erects a cage in
Wenceslas Square to represent a Cuban prison cell. Supporters put on
mock prison uniforms and sit inside. What sort of supporters? The
foreign minister sometimes comes along and dons prison stripes, Mr Panek
says. The mayor of Prague and various musical stars also take part. Then
the press is invited to take photographs of them in the cage.
To Mr Panek (whose organisation is credited even by sceptical EU
diplomats for taking "great risks" in helping democrats in places like
Belarus), it is no shame if Czech ministers and officials become heated
about human rights. "In Brussels, it may look like we are missing the
point, being a bit old-fashioned or not playing the EU game. Well, maybe
we're bringing some very basic values back to the table." What is the EU
ultimately for, he asks. "Only to have a higher cumulative GNP than the
Americans? To ease shipping between Greece and Britain?"
Karel Schwarzenberg, the Czech foreign minister, dismisses the charge of
being "lackeys of America". Nonsense, he says. The Czech government
opposes both the American trade embargo on Cuba and the Guantánamo Bay
prison camp that America maintains on its eastern tip. "I am against
Guantánamo because I think it is a violation of human rights," he says
crisply.
Dissident voice
EU policy on Cuba has wavered in recent years, with Spain and the Czech
Republic more or less at opposite extremes. Spain urges greater
engagement with Fidel Castro's regime. The Czech Republic wants to
balance this with greater recognition of Cuban dissidents. Two years
ago, ex-President Havel accused Spain of "shameful" appeasement for
pushing European embassies in Havana to ban dissidents from attending
receptions. (For the Spaniards, the Czechs were guilty of gesture
politics that misfired.) This is a legitimate debate, says one Czech
official. If it causes tensions, perhaps the EU should not set so much
store in finding common positions. "What the EU lacks is a division of
labour. If the Spanish could talk to the Castro regime, and the Czechs
could talk to opponents, then both sides could come back to Brussels and
exchange information," says the official.
Accusing the Czechs of acting as messenger-boys for the Bush
administration is a loaded charge in Brussels. The shadow of Iraq, and
widespread European opposition to the war there, hang over anyone who
advocates democracy overseas. But the Czechs, Mr Schwarzenberg insists,
do not believe in trying to export democracy: "What you can do is help
people who want to establish democracy in their own country."
Mr Schwarzenberg is a rather old-fashioned figure (he is in private life
a prince, with several castles to his name). He sums up the code that
should define civilised nations. "Democracy is not just a question of
voting systems, and having a good constitution," he says, "It is a
question of—and the English have a wonderful expression for it—accepting
things which are done and not done. As long as this code does not exist,
each democracy has its difficulties." This is rather a courtly
formulation, and would doubtless trigger further eye-rolling if uttered
in Brussels. But if the EU were serious about being a club ruled by
moral values, it is the kind of talk that should fit right in.
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9725352
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