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Better to teach in deed By Daniel Kumermann When the first representatives and reporters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) entered Prague just a few days after the fall of the communist regime in November 1989, they were welcomed and embraced as heroes and liberators, sometimes almost as redeemers, with all the appropriate honors. Almost immediately, the Czech government allocated space for the Czech service to relocate from Munich to Prague. By 1994, the stations' management moved the whole business further east -- to be closer to their territories of interest and to save some U.S. tax dollars. Once again, the Czech government came forth with a generous offer. Abandoned since the split of Czechoslovakia, the huge, ugly, former Czechoslovak Federal Parliament building in the very center of Prague fit the bill perfectly. The Czech Parliament preferred its historical seat in Mala Strana, and it was an ironic twist to have one of the West's most fervent promoters of "democratic values and institutions" occupying the same building that was once home to the "cream" of the communist regime, giving many a sense of poetic justice as well as a little malicious glee. Along with the building, the Czech government gave the radio networks more-or-less absolute freedom to act as they wished. This, one could guess, includes sensitive issues as well. A well-positioned source at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs hinted recently that where RFE/RL's recent decision to broadcast into Iran and Iraq is concerned, the Czech government has only advisory status, if any at all. Despite all that, RFE/RL continues to be held in overall high esteem in this country. For many here, the very name still embodies the highest democratic traditions. Both the Iraqi and Iranian regimes can be compared to the communist one that used to be here. This means that RFE/RL's broadcast will help the people of both Middle Eastern countries in the same way they helped us. From the very beginning, RFE/RL publicly admitted that both Iran and Iraq know the best shortcuts -- to put it very, very mildly -- to the international terrorism network. Because of that, the radios' management promised to be very careful in choosing Radio Iran/Radio Iraq's new office building. A few months later, the media learned, with much surprise, that the offices of the new division had been already bought and furnished in a nice pleasant villa in the well-to-do Prague suburb of Bubenec, which is also home to several embassies and diplomatic residences. Not only the media were surprised; most of the people living in the vicinity of the villa in question first learned about the nature of their new neighbor only after it had been reported in the news. Considering that RFE/RL's mission statement says: "The first requirement of democracy is a well-informed citizenry," one would think that informing the Bubenec residents of their plans would be the perfect way to show the Czech public democracy in action -- by having an open debate on security of the concerned neighborhood. The way they circumvented a public forum and just presented the location as a fait accompli does not put them in a very good light. It seems as if the ideas they sell all around the world did not apply to themselves. One can hope that the RFE/RL management, along with the appropriate secret services, will do everything possible and everything necessary to avert whatever danger might come from the regimes of Iran and Iraq, yet somehow it does not seem enough. It is hard to imagine Radio Iran/Iraq's offices being located in any city in the West without profound public debate preceding the final decision. Let us hope this is only some technical mistake, some individual failure that resulted in such a decision. And that RFE/RL will begin the normal process of public discussion and will thus show that they treat their neighbors from Bubenec with as much concern as they surely would if they lived in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. --The author is a writer with the Czech daily Pravo |
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The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.