OPEN LETTER/ Come to the dialogue and listen to me speak, otherwise I will cut off your scholarships, you will rot in prison. Please!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

"Amicable Divorce": 30 years after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia

2023-01-04 22:01:47Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
"Amicable Divorce": 30 years after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia
Bratislava

At midnight on December 31, 1992, the then 74-year-old state of Czechoslovakia, founded on the ruins of World War I, dissolved to be replaced by the independent Czech and Slovak republics. Now, 30 years later, former Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, who helped negotiate the split, reflects on the country's breakup and the lessons learned.

The division of Czechoslovakia into two states, that of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, is one of the few cases in history that was accomplished without bloodshed. This, according to former Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, was the result of a well-thought-out process.

"My task was to carry out the separation, which at that moment I considered inevitable. The separation was amicable, peaceful and just. Together with the Slovak Prime Minister, (Vladimir) Meciar, we managed to fulfill the task", says former Prime Minister Klaus.

The breakup of Czechoslovakia, often called the "Peaceful Divorce", was not done through a popular vote because the two politicians, Klaus and Meciar, who negotiated the breakup, refused to hold a referendum on the matter. Some Prague residents are still unhappy with that decision.

"I think most public opinion polls at the time were not in favor of separation, but Mr. Meciar and Mr. Klaus, for their own reasons, thought otherwise," says former US diplomat Cameron Munter.

But while the Czechs were happy to be part of Czechoslovakia, many Slovaks felt like second-class citizens, Mr. Klaus recalls.

"The Slovaks saw the Czechs as the big brother, the older brother, and they felt like second-class citizens," says Mr. Klaus.

Reflecting on the lessons learned from that dissolution, the former Czech president emphasizes the importance of negotiations, sharing this experience with countries such as Kosovo or Ukraine.

"I would say to Kosovo and other countries, even Ukraine, the lessons I have received and my experience tell me that you have to negotiate. You have to negotiate as long as possible. This is the only way to avoid war, or a situation dramatic in one place".

Three decades later, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – both EU members since 2004 – enjoy close economic, political and cultural ties. Polls show that Czechs and Slovaks see each other as the closest allies. Their quick divorce - the terms of which were written in the garden of a villa - is a thing of the past.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×