Confusing labels
Jiří Paroubek's statement about "other cultures" whose members "shouldn't get jobs" can't compete with the comments of Paroubek's friend and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico last week that Roma "commit a substantial chunk of crime" in relation to the total population, and since prevention doesn't work, "suppression will take hold". Still, both statements convey the same unfortunate stance of the current Czech and Slovak left.
Putting aside Paroubek's effort to deny his statement (which the Social Democrats themselves indirectly confirmed the same day), the question arises of why the Czech-Slovak left is so staunchly nationalist and conservative in contrast with the European tradition. My colleague, Zbyněk Petráček, rightly pointed out in Lidové noviny that in Germany, for instance, it has always been the far right that steered nationalist sentiments and support for the German Leitkultur. And in other Central European countries like Poland and Hungary, it's also the right that holds fast to the flag of national ideology and extends animosity to minorities.
The main problem, however, lies with the way Czech and Slovak leftists muddy terms when they pretend to follow the European leftwing tradition while denying it in their actions and words. A single example will suffice: a party that has — either intuitively or calculatingly - named itself the Workers' Party today sits on the extreme right. Maybe it's time to change the language.
Translated with permission by the Prague Daily Monitor.