Posted on 11/10/2004 7:03:00 PM PST by Ginifer
Speaking 15 years to the day after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the president of the Czech Republic yesterday warned Calgarians about the ongoing threat to freedom. "Some of us are afraid to celebrate (freedom) because we see certain other tendencies in the world around us," Vaclav Klaus said to some 250 members of the Fraser Institute during a luncheon at the Hyatt Regency.
"To raise the issue of the lack of freedom is perhaps going against the wind ... perhaps politically incorrect."
On Nov. 9, 1989, the crumbling of the Berlin Wall signified the end of the Cold War and a new era for Eastern Europe.
But, Klaus said that freedom continues to weaken, particularly in Europe, saying three factors are mostly to blame: Ideas, interests and fear.
Klaus was elected president of the Czech Republic in 2003 and was prime minister from 1992-97, during which time he took part in the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia and the foundations of an independent Czech Republic.
"To raise the issue of the lack of freedom is perhaps going against the wind ... perhaps politically incorrect."
Nobody gets freedom so well than someone who has recently been freed. I'll take the Czech Republic over France any day.
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