Ján Čarnogurský will celebrate his 78th birthday on the first day of the following year. Even at this age, he is still very socially and even politically active. He shares his views openly and is not afraid to speak his mind even though some may not like it. He is his own man who does not deviate from his opinions.
Just recently, people were reminiscing about the 17th of November and all the things that happened surrounding this date. Thirty-two years ago, on November 25th, you were released from prison, and just two weeks later you were the deputy prime minister of the new federal government. You must have had ideas about the direction that Czechoslovakia should head in. Which of those came true and which ones did not?
The ones that came true are the removal of the Communist dictatorship, the lifting of travel restrictions, and a free market for entrepreneurs. One that never came true is the unification of Europe. Europe remains divided, only the dividing line now runs farther east.
You were imprisoned for your political views during the times of President Gustáv Husák. When he died 30 years ago, you attended his funeral. What led you to attend the funeral of a man who had you locked up? Was it partly due to the historical ties between your families?
Husák did not have me locked up. When I went to prison, Husák was no longer the general secretary of the party, he was merely the president and so he no longer had such power. By the way, when I swore my oath to him at the Castle, he told me that it was not him who had me locked up, and I believed him. I attended Husák's funeral because he himself spent almost 10 years in prison and the only reason for that were his efforts to give Slovakia a better constitutional position in the scope of Czechoslovakia after the war. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, he was the first one to realize that the situation is lost from a military and geopolitical standpoint and implemented the normalization regime, which was much more amenable than the one that Indra, Kapek, or Biľak had planned, just read the Tribuna journal and you will see. He was the one who pushed through federalization on a political level. My father knew Husák a little, as did any Slovak involved in politics, but it was always clear that my father was on the Christian side of the political spectrum and Husák on the left, Communist side. Father helped Husák get out of prison during the times of the Slovak state, Husák's wife, Magda Lokvancová reached out to him for help. And Husák helped my father get out of prison shortly after the war when my father was imprisoned merely for being an MP during the times of the Slovak state. Maybe Husák also helped my father get out of prison in 1976, when he was incarcerated for sedition against socialism. I also went to Husák's funeral because he was the chairman of the Commissary Board in 1948, making him a de facto Slovak prime minister, and I was the Slovak prime minister at the time of his death. You should honor your predecessors.
On the topic of Gustáv Husák – he was locked up by the Communists, and he was in danger of being executed. He later became the general secretary of the Communist party. You were also locked up by the Communists, and nowadays, due to some of your views, you are considered to almost be an emissary of theirs of sorts. Is it not a bit of a paradox?
Emissary? What kind of emissary? I have never kept secret my adversity to communism, I am against communism. But communism has been defeated for good and I see no reason to fight it further. My enemy now is liberalism and its radical offshoot, progressivism. I do not understand where you see the paradox.
You were the Slovak prime minister from April 1991 until June 1992. Your predecessor, as well as your successor, was Vladimír Mečiar. What is your opinion of him? Was he beneficial to Slovakia's growth or did he hinder it instead?
Vladimír Mečiar is a part of the dialectical history of Slovakia of the 20th century. The Czechoslovak establishment born after November 1989 – which Václav Havel was a part of – saw the biggest danger to its existence in me and the KDH (Translator's note: Christian-Democratic Movement, founded by Čarnogurský in February 1990), and so they went against me and the KDH. Vladimír Mečiar was built up as a politician by the Verejnosť Proti Násiliu (Public Against Violence) movement, as well as by the establishment initially, they were the ones who pushed him through as the Slovak prime minister. Mečiar and his HZDS (T.n.: Movement for Democratic Slovakia, founded as a splinter group of the VPN in 1991) did not initially have the separation of Czechoslovakia as a part of their platform, which was confirmed by the memoirs of Augustín Marián Húska, Mečiar's own words, the book by Srb and Veselý – Rozdělení Československa (Separation of Czechoslovakia), and other sources. In the post-election meetings in 1992, however, they were faced with a dilemma initiated by Václav Klaus who said that either the federation becomes leaner, or the country will split. After the election campaign the HZDS ran with, they had no choice but to go with the split. And Mečiar took on the burden of getting Slovakia off the ground. He deserves respect for that. Back then, many in Prague thought Slovakia could not handle sovereignty, but they were wrong. The other thing is that Mečiar later became a hindrance to Slovakia's progress and had to be replaced, which ended up happening in the 1998 election. The dialectic of Mečiar's person uncovers more positives than negatives.
You are known to be a big proponent of the East (specifically Russia) and a strong opponent of the West (primarily the USA). How do you think the policies of current Czechia and Slovakia should look then?
Having the state be dependent on a western power, the USA in this case, is a naive and uneducated thing to do, it has proven to be a mistake in the past, in Munich. Our Munich is not the only proof of that, however, just look at how they left Poland to its fate in September 1939. Historically, we have always belonged in the middle, between the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, and Russia. Polish and Hungarian emperors were chosen by the pope, not the German emperor. Czechia joined this middle ground through Czechoslovakia. Beneš built his foreign policy on a firm position in the West, but also good relations with the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia was the first country to de facto accept the Soviet Union's sovereignty. Current Czech policymakers have refused this legacy of Beneš's politics and are even more aggressively leaning towards the West. It could come back to bite you. Slovakian foreign policy is more realistic than the Czech, although even the Slovakian one is weak in terms of relations with the East.
What is the reason for your Russian inclinations and your antipathy for the West and the US?
Russia has been our strategic partner, historically. The US and the West are in a state of decay – just turn on the news – and they are trying to force this decay on us.
How do you see the future of the European Union?
Europe has been through great things in the past, and it is not past redemption if it manages to return to the way it used to be.
On January 1st, you will turn 78. Do you have a birthday wish?
If The Business Soirée publishes this interview in its entirety, without any edits, it will be a very nice birthday present.
CV BOX
Ján Čarnogurský (born January 1, 1944, in Bratislava) is a former Czechoslovakian and Slovakian politician.
He graduated in law from Charles University in Prague and got his Ph.D. in 1971 from Komenský University in Bratislava.
He worked as an attorney, representing a number of religious activists and political dissidents. This got him disbarred in 1981. In August 1989, he was arrested and charged with sedition. He was released from prison on November 25, 1989.
After the Velvet Revolution, he was the first deputy prime minister of the federal government and chairman of the government's Legislative Committee. Čarnogurský then subsequently went on to become the first deputy prime minister of the Czechoslovakian Federal Republic, first deputy prime minister of the Slovak Republic, he founded the Christian-Democratic Movement (KDH) and became its chairman.
Between 1998-2002, he was the Slovak minister of justice, and briefly also the prime minister.
In the year 2000, he left his position as chairman of the KDH and started his own law firm.
In 2003, Čarnogurský founded the Paneuropean University (formerly University of Law Bratislava)
He is a father of four.
Leaving the crisis
What are your views on the current migrant crisis that Europe finds itself in? What should Europe do to solve it? „Implement realistic policies and do not kneel before the US. The Syrian President, Assad, saved his country – and Europe – from Islamic State terrorists, but Europe has imposed sanctions on him. Stop sanctions against Syria, reach an agreement with Syria, Iraq, and Libya, and accept no more immigrants from them. As a part of this agreement, there could even be guarantees and some sort of oversight to make sure they will not persecute returned migrants. Only accept environmental migrants.“
reklama
