Regards, Ivan
Posted on 02/24/2005 11:32:30 PM PST by MadIvan
At last President George W Bush found some European fans yesterday. After three days of muted receptions, Mr Bush received a far cheerier welcome behind the old Iron Curtain as enthusiastic Slovaks applauded him for visiting them on the last stop of his tour across the continent.
Thousands of Slovaks defied swirling snow and a bitter wind to wait for several hours to hear Mr Bush speak in the heart of their capital, Bratislava.
"We love him," said Arlena Turceanova, a 47-year-old lawyer, bursting with the pride felt by many Slovaks that Mr Bush chose their little country for his third and last stop. "He is president from a great country. It is wonderful that he comes here."
The Slovak prime minister, Mikulas Dzurinda, set the tone when he introduced Mr Bush to the crowd with an implicit comparison to the late Ronald Reagan, who devoted much of his presidency to combating and denouncing the Soviet Union. For the White House, it was a reassuring reminder that Mr Bush's stock remains high in New Europe, as Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, famously described the more recent East European members of the EU and Nato.
The rally also provided the perfect image to end the four-day tour. A sea of Slovak and American flags fluttered above the crowd in the city's neo-classical central square as Mr Bush hailed Slovakia's move to democracy as part of his cherished "march of freedom."
"It took almost a decade after the [1989] Velvet Revolution for democracy to fully take root in this country. And the democratic revolutions that swept this region over 15 years ago are now reaching Georgia and Ukraine," he said to applause.
In a link that appeared aimed more at domestic audiences than at the shivering crowd, he went on to suggest that last month's election in Iraq was in the tradition of the East European revolutions over the past 15 years.
"In recent times we have witnessed landmark events in the history of liberty - a Rose Revolution in Georgia, an Orange Revolution in Ukraine and now a Purple Revolution in Iraq," he said, in a reference to the Iraqis who dipped their index fingers into purple ink to show they had voted.
"For the Iraqi people this is their 1989 and they will always remember who stood with them in their quest for freedom," he said. Even for Slovaks who tend to love Mr Bush for his straight-talking and America's history of opposing communism, that seemed a bit of a stretch.
His comments on the fight against terrorism and Iraq received only polite applause, but they were delighted when he recalled how thousands of candle-waving Slovaks defied the communist secret police in the same Hviezdoslavovo Square more than a year before the end of the regime.
Glancing to the hotel to the left of the square, he stirred memories of how the communist police used it as a vantage point to watch the "thousands of candles shining in the darkness" and "gave the order to extinguish them".
The reaction was very different from Mainz where thousands marched through the streets on Wednesday denouncing his policies as he met Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
"Ninety per cent of me is in favour of him," said Tomas Palonder, a 25-year-old artist. "Only ten per cent is against. Before Mr Bush only Soviet leaders have come here."
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
When democracy came to Slovakia, there was a widespread belief that embracing capitalism would mean that the streets would immediately be paved with gold just as they are in the US (as everyone in the world knows), and when they didn't all get rich right away some resentment arose.
Well the old joke in Communist countries used to be, "The government pretends to pay us, and we pretend to be working". It is a psychological shift that all those countries formerly in the Communist bloc are having to make - I don't see Slovakia being alone in this, nor particularly encumbered. It is clear that their leadership has embraced a positive, pro-business, low tax set of policies, and they are to be commended for that.
Regards, Ivan
Great article, Ivan... thanks!
Great article ping!
Thousands of Slovaks defied swirling snow and a bitter wind to wait for several hours to hear Mr Bush speak in the heart of their capital, Bratislava.
"We love him," said Arlena Turceanova, a 47-year-old lawyer, bursting with the pride felt by many Slovaks that Mr Bush chose their little country for his third and last stop. "He is president from a great country. It is wonderful that he comes here..."
Great article ping!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
ping!
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That is a problem in any former communist country.
The Slovaks are learning....
Yep, these are our real friends. This is the kind of place where our bases should be.
"The problem in Slovakia, so far as I can see it, is that there is little concept of the American work ethic. They do not understand the American concept that if you want to be a big economic success in a capitalist economy you work 70 or 80 hours a week."
Really ? Could you provide some statistics ? I saw some list a few months ago and Americans were somewhere around the middle of the second ten. UK was the only country from the "west" in the first ten. The rest were central/eastern European countries (Hungary, Czech Republic...) and Asians (S.Korea, Japan...).
Slovaks are the rednecks of Europe. (said proudly)
Regards, Ivan
And they got that monstrosity, the Palace of Culture in downtown Warsaw as a "gift" from Stalin.
Ah yes, but I recall the moment I fell in love with Poland; it was when I discovered they turned that building into a casino. ;)
Regards, Ivan
A list of what? Of number of hours per week worked by rich people or entrepreneurs? I have not seen such a list. My statement was based on my observations during extensive travel in Slovakia. I have also compared notes with one of my closest friends, who lived and worked there as a business consultant. Most of my extended family is still over there so of course there are frequent visits back and forth, constant correspondence and phone calls, email, and reading of the print media there. I try in my modest way to keep informed about what is going on there though naturally my views tend to be informed by the ideas of my relatives.
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