Právo: President misunderstands modern-day statehood

Prague, Oct 31 (CTK) - Statehood is no longer determined by borders or the strength of the military and it loses its sense without tight cooperation with neighbours in modern times, Lukas Jelinek writes in Pravo yesterday, commenting on Czech President Vaclav Klaus's speech on national holiday on October 28.

He writes that the speech he made on the 94th anniversary of Czechoslovakia's establishment offers an explanation of why Klaus did not comment on the apocalyptic visions and indications of the arrival of the Antichrist that Petr Hajek, deputy head of Klaus's office, unveiled in his new book.

Jelinek writes that Klaus also thinks that the atmosphere is assuming dark shades. He alerted in his speech to the "malice, envy and aggressiveness," warned about "citizens' indifference towards their state" on the one hand and about "explosions of individual tension and extremism" on the other.

It almost seems as if the current European economic and social model that aims to close gaps between citizens and states led to the Apocalypse and that Klaus sees the imaginary Antichrist in the "radical centralisation of the continent" and "further weakening of the historical European states' sovereignty," Jelinek writes.

However, Klaus is not succumbing to scepticism. He implicitly calls on people to be proud Czechs, to guard "our yard" and to accept the current economic and social situation as a fait accompli, Jelinek writes.

Klaus said "we live in materially the most successful period of our history." He did admit that the financial situation of many is not good, but added that this has been caused by those who were irresponsibly handing out money to them in the past, which spoilt them, Jelinek writes.

He says irrespective of this, all citizens are connected by Czech statehood, according to Klaus.

But statehood requires togetherness and an operable society in which one can rely on another, in which gaps, mainly the social ones, are not being deepened, Jelinek writes.

One day, Czechs may find out that a much more tolerable social atmosphere reigns to the west, south, north as well as east (Slovakia), Jelinek writes.

This may be also due to that the EU, with the varied offer of NGOs and other offspring of civic society that Klaus dismisses, is an environment created not only by rules, but also unceasing intellectual activities with which the ideological as well as programme emptiness of the Czech elites cannot be compared, Jelinek writes.

"As long as we do not again start calling things their proper names, values values, quasi-values quasi-values, a norm a norm and an extreme an extreme, our feelings of uncertainty will be mounting," Jelinek quotes Klaus as saying.

The gauge of values is to be apparently Prague Castle of gentlemen Klaus and Hajek, fortunately no more than the next four months, Jelinek writes.

He is alluding to that Klaus's second and last five-year term expires in early March.

When Klaus leaves Prague Castle he can try to defend his theses in a classical political competition. It is strongly evident in his anachronic speech that he won in direct eledtions 16 years ago, in the 1996 general election, for last time, Jelinek writes.