Photo: © European Communities
In the first episode of our five-part-series Czechs in the EU, which we are running in connection with the upcoming European Parliament elections, we will look at the legacy left by the country’s first post-communist president Václav Havel and how he was perceived in Brussels and Strasbourg. My guest in the studio is Viktor Daněk, Czech Radio’s former correspondent in Brussels, now Deputy Director of the EUROPEUM Institute.
Viktor, what is it that makes Václav Havel an inspiration to European politicians almost thirteen years after his death?
“Well, European Union connects states which were for decades divided by the Iron Curtain, and I think that Václav Havel became a symbol, alongside Lech Wałęsa, of this change and of European unity. It even became a matter of curtesy to mention him on important occasions when European politicians speak about history.
See the rest here.
Authors: Viktor Daněk, Daniela Lazarová