Freedom's afterglow in Central Europe
NEW YORK Ñ Fifteen years ago the Joshua trumpet sounded and the Wall in Berlin came tumbling down. That glaring symbol of Cold War division of West and East, free and unfree, was painfully obvious in Berlin as well as along the entire tortuous route of the Iron Curtain which gouged a path through the heart of Europe.
Now fifteen years after those epic events of 1989 which signaled the collapse of the Soviet imperium in Eastern Europe and later in Russia itself, we find a Europe whole and free.
Not only have the former Soviet client regimes achieved independence and genuine sovereignty but places like Poland, Hungary the Czech Republic have wisely been woven and integrated into the security and political framework. Membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) the security defense insurance policy, and more recently the European Union Ñ the political and economic structure, has brought a round of extraordinary changes for the peoples of what was often described rather dismally as the East Bloc.
Yet the political legacy of oppressive communism and the enduring economic malaise from the old socialist Òwork ethicÓ or should we say lack of it, has brought a stark reality check to many of these countries. Thus despite the impressive political changes and economic prosperity of the past decade, for example, thereÕs no doubt that the transition from a lowest common denominator society to an enterprise-driven system has left many people behind in its wake.
Having revisited many places which were in the headlines of 1989--Berlin, Budapest, Prague Ñ I again return to the image of a world in dour black and white versus thriving Technicolor. But the film noir that was the political order in places like Budapest before 1989, has in its own way been replaced by partisan bickering, lingering resentment and the quiet but very deliberate undertow of the supporters of the old regime.
Gone from politics are the epic leaders of the freedom movement Ñ Lech Walsea, the Polish trade unionist who turned out the people against the PeopleÕs Republic and Vaclav Havel, the playwright who finest drama was the Velvet Revolution for old Czechoslovakia. Only Polish Pope John Paul II, the spiritual symbol of this era of liberation remains.
Naturally symbols play a strong role in defining political culture. Most Hungarians are quick to identify with the 1956 Revolution, an ill fated attempt at freedom from the Soviets. Budapest has no shortage of reminders and memorials to that period and even the former communists now try to claim part of that legacy. In the Czech Republic, there are far fewer open identifications or reminders of Prague Spring in 1968.
Berlin presents a special case Ñ that formerly divided city of the democratic and free-wheeling West with the dismal though far more historically significant East. The Wall Ñ which stood between 1961 and 1989--is nearly gone save for a few places and commemorative reminders. The old Checkpoint Charlie the famous crossing point between West and East is still there and has become a Òliving museum.Ó Some on the left complain that Berlin has gown into a Cold War theme park.
In fact Berlin a glittering and prosperous capital of a reunited Germany (thank you Ronald Reagan and Chancellor Kohl) nonetheless exhibits all the angst and political yammering about the enduring psychological wall which still divides East and West. Despite outpouring of $1.5 trillion dollars from the German government to rebuild former East Germany and Berlin, thereÕs still a strong undertow of unemployment in the East (18 percent). State run public works projects rather than enterprise drive policies are part of the problem. This year the government will still send $110 billion to narrow the differences! Even today certain districts of Berlin still proudly vote ÒredÓ in elections.
The projected GDP growth numbers for 2004 are impressive Poland (4.5 percent), Hungary (4 percent), and the Czech Republic (4 percent).
Naturally the nay Sayers of the rive gauche will smugly say Òyes but at what cost?Ó As if the former PeopleÕs republics where somehow morally and philosophically better than the new democratic governments which emerged in the wake of freedom? Hardly.
Despite some idiots who would wish to turn to the clock back, IÕm reminded of the sign at West BerlinÕs Checkpoint Charlie which I passed a number of times during the division and after the WallÕs collapse. ÒYou are leaving the American Sector.Ó That stark black and white sign said it all to a generation. Really want to turn the clock back?
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.  |
