Open Letter of Czech and Slovak public intellectuals to the citizen of Ukraine
Dear friends,
In 1968, Czechoslovakia was invaded by thousands of tanks sent by Moscow. Our country was occupied for the next 22 years. That time seemed like it would never end, but finally, the day of our freedom arrived in 1989.
The Russian occupying army invaded Crimea in a similarly treacherous way on February 20, 2014 and forcibly annexed it to Russia. With this move, Moscow demonstrated to the world that it considers international conventions just a mere piece of paper and that the only laws the Kremlin recognizes are the laws of the criminal underworld and jungle.
We are convinced, however, that just as the day of freedom came for us in Czechoslovakia, it will come one day for Crimea and the Donbass region that are currently occupied by Russian forces.
Two years after the Russian aggression attempted to break apart your country and drown the Revolution of Dignity in blood, we bow in respect to the heroism that you put up against this oppression and Russian militarism.
With admiration, we watched you fight for freedom, protection of national independence and European aspirations. Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred were shot in Maidan on the very first day of Russian annexation of Crimea and then thousands of Ukrainians sacrificed their lives in defense of Ukraine. Many others, such as Nadezhda Savchenko, Oleg Sentsov or Oleksandr Kolchenko continue to be tortured behind the bars of the Russian Federal Security Services.
Today, we share your concerns about how a free Ukraine will be able to come to terms with the demon of corruption and insatiate greediness of oligarchs. We also share concern over how will you be able to manage reforms critical to anchoring the heir nation of Kyivan Rus in Western civilization, where it rightly belongs.
Revolution is only the first step on the path towards modern civilization. We know through our own experience that it is a long and challenging journey. Even we could not deal with corruption and influence of oligarchs as well as we had hoped. Like you, we are often frustrated by the state of our societies and by our corrupt politicians. But when we reflect upon life before 1989, we are grateful that our children today live and work in a free and prosperous world.
Two years after the occupation of Crimea, you, the women and men of Ukraine, face two paths. One leads to freedom, rule of law, prosperity and civilization. The other leads to violence and a society in which all Ukrainians would merely be vassals, serving the oriental despot in the Kremlin.
We believe that your return to the Western civilization will be successful and the 20th of February 2014 will remain in the memory of your country just as the 21st August 1968 is in ours – as a day that has been overcome by history, but also as the unforgotten day of infamy.
We are convinced that Ukrainian women and men will soon be enjoying freedom of travel, study and work not only at home but also across Europe up to the shores of Atlantic. That your Ukraine will be free, independent, democratic, free from of the curse of corruption, strong, prosperous, united and European.
Bratislava – Praha, February 2016
Signatories:
Andrej Bán, photographer and journalist
Jiří Bárta, manager, civic activist
Gabriel Bianchi, psychologist, university teacher
Ivan Binar, author
Fedor Blaščák, philosopher, university teacher
John Bok, civic activist, signatory of Charter 77
Ľubomír Burgr, actor and musician
Jaroslav Černý, film director
Kamil Miroslav Černý, civic activist, signatory of Charter 77
Viera Dubačová, theater director
Alexander Duleba, political scientist
Přemysl Fialka, photographer and cameraman, signatory of Charter 77
Jefim Fištejn, publicist and signatory of Charter 77
Karel Freund, clerk and signatory of Charter 77
Egon Gál, philosopher, university teacher
Fedor Gál, publicist
Libor Grubhoffer, biologist, university professor
Olga Gyárfášová, sociologist, university teacher
Tomáš Halík, priest, university professor
Jozef Hašto, psychiatrist, university teacher
Anton Heretik, psychologist, university professor
Karel Hirman, energy specialist
Beata Hirt, civic activist
Mario Homolka, documentarist
Jana Hradílková, woman of action and writer
Štefan Hríb, journalist
Milan Hronec, civic activist
Olga Hubová, university teacher
Michal Hvorecký, writer
Jakub Janda, political analyst
Roman Joch, political scientist
Peter Juščák, writer
Robert Kirchhoff, film director
Helena Klímová, psychotherapist, signatory of Charter 77
Michael Kocáb, musician, former minister of government
Miroslav Kocúr, theologian
Petr Kolář, former ambassador, chairman, Initiative for European values
František Kostlán, publicist
Martin Kotas, coffee house manager and civic activist
Ľubica Lacinová, biophysicist
Marián Majer, security analyst
Monika Le Fay, writer and director
Štefan Markuš, scientist and former ambassador
Daniel Matej, composer and university teacher
Michal Matzenauer, poet and painter
Grigorij Mesežnikov, political scientist
Juraj Mesík, environmentalist and publicist
Martin Mojžiš, physicist and publicist
Jaroslav Naď, defense analyst
Mário Nicolini, analyst and civic activist
Juraj Nvota, film director and university professor
Štefan Olejník, physicist
Petr Pánek, civic activist
Tomáš Peszyński, civic activist
Zdeněk Pinc, philosopher and signatory of Charter 77
Vladimír Pirošík, attorney and civic activist
Lucia Piussi, singer and writer
Jana Plichtová, social psychologist, university professor
Ondrej Prostredník, theologian, university teacher
Martin C. Putna, literary historian, university professor
Iveta Radičová, university professor and former Prime Minister
Věra Roubalová Kostlánová, psychotherapist and signatory of Charter 77
Rudolf Sikora, visual artist, university professor
Olga Sommerová, film documentarist
Juraj Stern, economist, university professor
Boris Strečanský, development specialist
Ljuba Svobodová, historian
Štefan Szabó, environmentalist and university teacher
László Szigeti, publisher
Soňa Szomolányi, political scientist, university professor
Jiří Šesták, senator
Marta Šimečková, publicist
Jiřina Šiklová, sociologist, Woman of Europe1995 and signatory of Charter 77
Pavel Šremer, environmentalist and signatory of Charter 77
Ján Štrasser, poet and lyricist
Ivan Štrpka, writer
Petruška Šustrová, publicist and translator, signatory of Charta 77
Peter Tatár, civic activist
Ľubica Trubíniová, civic activist
Jan Urban, journalist, signatory of Charter 77
Martin Vadas, director and documentarist
Eva Vavroušková, civic activist
Miroslav Václavek, poet and lyricist
Ľudmila Verbitska, civic activist
Jan Vít, publicist and signatory of Charter 77
Helena Woleková, civic activist, former minister of government
Marcel Dávid Zajac, civic activist
Peter Zajac, literary scientist, university professor
Katarína Zavacká, legal historian
Viktor Žárský, biologist
Pavol Žilinčík, lawyer and civic activist
