Article
Václav Havel Did So Much for the Czech Republic
18.12.2011President Václav Havel symbolised the positive social, economic and political changes that followed November 1989. He deserves enormous thanks for the Czech Republic for, of all things, his unhesitating courage to speak up in the name of democracy and human freedom under the totalitarian regime, for which he was persecuted, including imprisonment.
He supported our country’s pro-West orientation and did much for our social transformation, the peaceful transition to democracy, as well as the integration of the Czech Republic into the North Atlantic Alliance and European Union.
In the nineties, he was a symbol, a good Czech brand, thanks to which our country’s weight on the international scene was significantly greater than would normally have been attributed to a small country in Central Europe.
I see his legacy in three main areas: the legacy of civil courage and the belief that freedom is worth fighting for. Secondly, that the fundamental system in which we should live is the democratic system, despite all its shortcomings, flaws and problems. And thirdly, that our country is part of western civilisation, that we shouldn’t be a bridge between the East and West, but that we should return to where we historically belong, and that means western civilisation.
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