Protesters at the foot of
Prague's Wenceslas Square express
opposition to the U.S. Army's convoy from Latvia through the
Czech Republic on
its way to Germany at the end of last month.
U.S. Army March Encounters Surprising Czech Opposition (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany)
"At the Czech border crossing at Harrachov
in the Giant Mountains, leftists wanted to block the convoy’s passage and on
social media called for the use of force. … A complaint was even filed with the
attorney general’s office in Brno against Prime Minister BohuslavSobotka, Foreign Minister LubomírZaorálek and Defence Minister
Martin Stropnický. They are being accused of 'high
treason' for approving passage of the convoy. … Anti-American upwellings of this magnitude last erupted in the
Czech Republic eight years
ago in connection with the-then planned construction of a satellite radar
station as part of the missile defense system."
Vienna: Last
week, a convoy from the 2nd
U.S. Cavalry Regiment, consisting of 518 soldiers and 118 military
vehicles, mainly Stryker Armored
Combat Vehicles, made its way from the Baltics to the Upper Palatinate. On
a stretch of roughly 1,800 kilometers, the convoy crossed six NATO countries -
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany - on its
way to the Vilseck Military Base. The soldiers were returning from
joint maneuvers with the Estonian armed forces.
Instead of, as usual, transporting their vehicles by train,
the U.S. Army decided on a "road march" to demonstrate its ability
and willingness to defend NATO countries to the east [operation "Dragoon
Ride"]. Along the way encounters with the local population were planned in
order to - according to a spokesman
for American forces in Europe - "deepen their appreciation of the cultural
diversity within the alliance" and "enhance the relationships that
are essential to building and maintaining mutual admiration, respect and trust
among allied militaries."
On the afternoon of March 26, the convoy reached the Czech Republic
border crossing at Nŕchod and Bohumín.
At this point the soldiers must have become aware that people there are not as happy
to see them as in the four NATO countries bordering Russia in the northeast. Here
and there they were indeed received in a friendly manner with the Slavic custom
of bread and salt. In Reichenberg (Liberec), where
some of the soldiers spent their first night, the community organized a meeting
with citizens, and Czech soldiers volunteered to escort their American
comrades.
Resurgence of
anti-American movements
On March 28, a demonstration organized by the Communist
Party and several nationalist, pacifist, and radical leftist groups "against
the American military invasion" took place in Prague’s Wenceslas Square [photo, top]. Roughly
300 opponents of the convoy took to the streets. About as many gathered in
Wenceslas Square to demonstrate solidarity with America and the NATO military
alliance. Riot police separated the two camps. At the border crossing at Harrachov in the Giant Mountains, leftists wanted to block
the convoy’s passage and on social media called for the use of force.
Germany's Anti-Muslim Movement Spawns Anti-American Offshoot (Barbadillo, Italy)
A complaint was even filed with the attorney general’s
office in Brno against Prime Minister BohuslavSobotka, Foreign Minister LubomírZaorálek and Defence Minister
Martin Stropnický. They are being accused of "high
treason" for approving passage of the convoy.
Anti-American upwellings of this
magnitude last erupted in the Czech Republic eight years ago in connection with the-then
planned construction of a satellite radar station as part of the missile
defense system. Tempers cooled only after Barack Obama, to appease Moscow, gave
up the plan which was pursued by George W. Bush. In the meantime, Russia’s
undeclared war against Ukraine has again polarized public opinion and given new
impetus to the anti-American movement "No to the Bases."
Pragmatism is more
popular than loyalty
The debate, complained Defense Minister Stropnický,
is gradually taking on absurd proportions. The Czech Republic joined NATO out
of its own free will after all, not as a result of American pressure, and as a
member of NATO, the most "compact and efficient defense community,"
it enjoys a level of security never seen before. The protests
against the passage of American soldiers is simply "embarrassing,"
Stropnický said. Conservative opposition politician MiroslavKalousek warned of a
mobilization of "post-communist Zombies," and President MilošZeman, who for the sake of
simplicity divides the world into Zemanists and
idiots, said he opposes "anti-American idiots" just as much as the "anti-Russian
idiots" on the other side.
Zeman’s position likely corresponds
to the current Czech mood. They are used to having their president give
expression to their national uniqueness, which was already the case when the
government was oriented in the opposite direction under Zeman’s
predecessors Václav Havel and Václav
Klaus. Equidistance is popular and pragmatism even more so than foreign and
security policy loyalty. Since the annexation of Crimea and the Russian
intervention in east Ukraine, the government of Czech Prime Minister BohuslavSobotka has adopted an
ambivalent course that on the one hand seeks to avoid offending partners in the
E.U. and NATO, and on the other urges a weakening of sanctions to appease Putin.
Zeman to Attend Victory Parade in Moscow
The alienation between Poland and the Czech Republic became obvious
in Austerlitz (Slavkov) at the end of January when Sobotka, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Austrian
Chancellor Werner Faymann advocated a gentler approach
toward Russia.Notwithstanding
historical differences among Vienna, Prague and Bratislava, particularly on issues
of energy policy, they agreed on an annual trilateral meeting following the
Austerlitz format. In the previously dominant regional group, the Visegrad
Group (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Hungary) there is no common
stance toward Moscow.
Czech President Zeman will attend the
Victory Day Parade in Moscow, which is being boycotted by the United States and
most E.U. countries. In addition to Zeman, so far Greek
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Serbian President TomslavNikolić, North
Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as well as leading
politicians from China, Cuba and Vietnam plan to attend. It remains unclear
whether Austrian President Heinz Fischer will be going.
The Czech opposition and the Christian Democratic Party, which
is part of the opposition coalition the Christian Democratic Union, are
criticizing Zeman’s decision to go to Moscow. Prime Minister
Sobotka endorsed the decision, although he himself
will not travel to Moscow. In an open letter, prominent Czech intellectuals
demanded Zeman’s resignation. Meanwhile, Slovak
President Andrei Kiska declined Putin’s invitation. "Given the events in
Ukraine and Crimea, I do not want to take part in a celebration of military
might," said Kiska. On May 8th, he plans instead to visit the graves of
fallen Slovak soldiers.
*Karl-Peter Schwarz was
born in Villach (Austria) in 1952, has a Master of Arts in history and languages
in Vienna and Rome, had his first experience in journalism as foreign policy
editor of Austrian newspaper Die Presse (1982 to
1984), then in the newsroom ("ZeitimBild") of Austrian
television channel ORF, 1986-1990 foreign
correspondent for ORF radio and television in Rome,
1990-1995 foreign correspondent for Die Presse in
Prague, 1996-2000 deputy editor for Die Presse. After
moving to FAZ in November 2000, he was correspondent
in Prague for ten years.
