Mečiar – Father of the Slovak Republic
January 2, 2013
Allan Stevo
Love him or hate him (and it seems quite popular at the present time to hate him) Vladimír Mečiar is the father of the Slovak Republic.
He was the autocrat, the heavy handed guy on the Slovak side of the negotiating table while Vaclav Klaus, love him or hate him, the father of the Czech Republic, was on the Czech side of the negotiating table when the two countries became independent from each other. Officially, that “Velvet Divorce” took place on January 1, 1993.
Mečiar’s name is soiled with all kinds of stories that I was not present for and I consider myself at this time having no business repeating. His name is adored by a significant number of people who I have never sat down to speak with, and who I therefore feel I have no business either praising or criticizing. Usually, his supporters are identified as old, female, village dwelling, nostalgic for communism. About these things I have no idea. I grew up in Chicago politics learning to believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see. In politics, I find that especially to be the case. Mečiar never did a darn thing wrong to me and just like everyone else who’s never done a darn thing wrong to me, I intend to never do a darn thing wrong to him.
Condemnations of Mečiar are easy to find in other places on the internet, so I find no need to repeat them. Also, I consider many politicians to be scoundrels and I’m not sure I can honestly believe people who write journalism that goes something like this “My friend the scoundrel politician is better than that other guy’s friend who is an even bigger scoundrel politician.” It’s not especially exciting for me to have vigorous debates over who the smaller scoundrel is and why the smaller scoundrel deserves my trust.
What I know is that the way the story of the Velvet Divorce is told, there are two people who deserve the title of “father of his country” from that period. That’s Vladimír Mečiar, father of the Slovakia Republic, and Vaclav Klaus, father of the Czech Republic.
On January 1, 2013, Slovakia celebrated the 20th anniversary of its appearance on the world stage as an independent state. This is a perfect time to recognize the father of that Slovak Republic – Vladimír Mečiar.
Do you have sentiments about Mr. Mečiar that you would like to share in this space? If so, then please do.
Allan Stevo writes on Slovak culture at www.52inSk.com. He is from Chicago and spends most of his time travelling Europe and writing. You can find more of his writing at www.AllanStevo.com. If you enjoyed this post, please use the buttons below to like it on Facebook or to share it with your friends by email. You can sign up for emails on Slovak culture from 52 Weeks in Slovakia by clicking here.
Scooby Doobie
Jan 2nd, 2013Lexa avoids punishment for kidnapping thanks to Meciar’s amnesty.
Europe Intelligence Wire
| December 20, 2002 | Copyright
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-11363632_ITM
(From Czech News Agency)
BRATISLAVA, Dec 20 (CTK) – The Slovak Supreme Court today confirmed the validity of the amnesties granted by former premier Vladimir Meciar to the people involved in the 1995 kidnapping of a son of former president Michal Kovac when Meciar temporarily exercised presidential powers.
At a closed session today the court rejected a general prosecutor’s complaint against the stoppage of the criminal proceedings in the case of Michal Kovac jr.’s abduction to Austria. The verdict cannot be appealed against.
The Bratislava Regional Court ruled on June 5, like the Bratislava District Court did still before this, to stop the prosecution of former director of the Slovak SIS counter- intelligence service Ivan Lexa and other 11 people accused in the matter, referring to Meciar’s amnesties.
The general prosecutor then lodged an appeal against the verdict with the Supreme Court, intending to use weak points in the formulations of Meciar’s amnesties.
According to the investigation, the kidnapping was masterminded by the SIS which thus unsuccessfully attempted to force then president Kovac to resign.
However, the amnesties which were granted by Meciar in 1998 also apply to Lexa. Meciar’s successor in the post of Slovak premier Mikulas Dzurinda tried to abolish the amnesties but the Constitutional Court thwarted his efforts.
The controversial amnesties could theoretically be abolished by a constitutional law but these efforts have not gained sufficient support in the Slovak parliament so far.
Lexa, a former close aide to Meciar, was again taken into custody on December 7.
He has been charged with three crimes, including instigating a murder of one of the witnesses of the 1995 kidnapping of Michal Kovac jr.
He is suspected of ordering, in 1996, the murder of Robert Remias by the Bratislava underworld boss Miroslav Sykora, who has also been murdered in the meantime, for more than 2 million crowns.
Remias, a former policeman, was a connection to Oskar F., the crown witness in the case of the 1995 kidnapping of Michal Kovac jr.
Lexa, 41, was hiding abroad for two years. He was detained in South Africa this summer and transported to Slovakia. However, after a short time he was released from custody.
rick ivan
Jan 2nd, 2013I was not privy to that time politically either , but what I do remember is Meciar’s obstinate persistence in resisting and relinquishing control of Slovak commerce and banking to the all powerful control of long standing European central banks . When it became apparent that Meciar’s valiant resistance was financially quashed by the those central banks , the Slovaks rebuked him , not realizing that he was one of the few that understood how evil the big bankers were and are . so , then they demoni.se him and elect Dzurinda , who totally capitulates and sells Slovakia for a bowl of pottage .Capitalism and communism are just opposite sides of the same coin , both controlled by the same people
Rado
Jan 2nd, 2013What a disgusting article title… almost feels like trolling, or a tabloid headline, to make as many people as possible angry. If that guy really were the “father of the republic”, I’d resign my citizenship right away. He got mistakenly and accidentally chosen as a leader in 1990, so the leadership came to him in about the same way as if you were walking down the street and a brick fell on your head. He managed to hold on to power for 8 long years due to the bumpkin nature of much of Slovakia’s electorate, but he’s a disgraceful figure and the last thing we need is to read celebratory or provocative headlines about him.
admin
Jan 2nd, 2013Scoobie Doobie,
Thank you for the article. Any thoughts on why you feel the issue has not yet found enough support in the parliament?
Allan
admin
Jan 2nd, 2013Rick,
This is a very interesting point you make about Meciar being opposed to the European Central Banks. I have never heard this bit of praise for him and agree with you that there are many negatives to central banking. Thank you for sharing that.
In regard to capitalism and communism being the same side of the coin, I suppose I have an issue of semantics to raise. What exists widely in the world under the name Capitalism does not deserve the name capitalism since instead of being free market in nature, it has an authoritarian or maybe mercantilistic appearance. The system is controlled by governments for the purpose of unfairly benefiting their friends in commerce. A free market (or capitalism in my opinion) would be an example of government entirely removing itself from the economic realm and picking no winners and losers. I think this is a matter of semantics, but still an important distinction.
Thank you for raising both points, Rick. So I guess you’ve sort of cast Meciar like Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson – American heroes who abolished the powerful central banking interests in the U.S.
Allan
admin
Jan 2nd, 2013Rado,
I entirely understand that you would not like to see Vladimir Meciar mentioned as the Father of the Slovak Republic. However, you have not disputed the fact that he actually is the Father of the Slovak Republic. He was the man in power when independence happened.
I did not write the article for the purpose of driving traffic. I wrote the article because it is the 20th anniversary of an independent Slovakia and Meciar deserves mention as the Father of Slovakia. Sometimes the truth hurts.
I can think of people who I would rather have be given the title of Father of Slovakia, but my opinion doesn’t change the fact that Meciar was in power at the time. My opinion on how he got in power or kept power also does not change that fact.
If the man was in power at the time, his name deserves to be associated with the existence of the Slovak Republic. That’s simply coming to terms with the reality of Slovakia’s past. Does he need to be put on coins and have parades thrown for him? No. Lying to ourselves though is not a fair way to treat ourselves.
Thank you for writing, Rado.
Allan
Aaron
Jan 2nd, 2013Wonderfull ‘father’, after his 8 years rule Slovakia was left in political insolation and economic devastation. State companies were sold to friends (i.e. 39 share in the state rafinery Slovnaft, which market value was estimated to be 6,4bln slovak crowns was sold to Hatina for 1bln crown). Opposition was repressed (http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/6859/1/)
Durring his rule the Slovak Information Service was used to kidnap the president son and assasinate Robert Remias (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Róbert_Remiáš).
It took several years and several harsh reforms for Slovakia to recover both financially and politically.
Calling him father is insulting any common citizen of Slovakia.
Rado
Jan 3rd, 2013You’re misreading me, I totally dispute that. Mečiar is NOT the “Father” of anything except his daughter for whom he made it possible to privatise Slovak film studios. Calling Mečiar “Father” is offensive an unacceptable. It’s far from the truth — it’s a nationalistic myth. Mečiar is about as much a “father” of Slovakia as Senator McCarthy was the paragon of American democracy. They are shameful periods in the two nations’ history that deserve condemnation.
Scott Norris
Jan 3rd, 2013Whether Vladimir Meciar “deserves” to be termed “Father of the Slovak Republic” is a political or moral judgment, but there is no denying his essential role. There is little doubt that Slovakia would not be an independent country today had his ego (and Klaus’) not wished it so. Certainly the Slovak populace was far from enthusiastic at the time; now, as much as people lament the passing of Czechoslovakia, nobody wants to return to it! My own view, when he was still a (regressive, negative) political force, was to erect a statue to him as a means of underscoring his increasing irrelevance and sweep him to the curb. But that time (and his) has passed.
admin
Jan 3rd, 2013Scott,
Well put. PLEASE send me the photos / videos you took of this erecting of a Meciar statue. And thank you for your insight on this matter.
Allan
admin
Jan 3rd, 2013Aaron,
Thank you for the insight on the negative acts done by Meciar. I did not live in Slovakia in 1992. However, my understanding is that Meciar was a key figure in bringing about the creation of an independent Slovakia and in almost all retellings of the creation of Slovakia, Meciar and Klaus are the two most prominent figures in the process. By their will Czechoslovakia split? Am I correct? If I am correct, then I believe Meciar is the Father of the Slovak Republic. Perhaps there is a better more appropriate name to call him than father, but ultimately the definition should be “Man who stood so firm that under his leadership an independent Slovakia was created.” Meciar may be the most evil person on earth, but that does not change the role he played in the creation of an independent Slovak state.
McCarthy was of course not the paragon of American democracy. He might have been an important leader in an anti-communist movement, a movement which probably got very out of hand. So, if you wanted to call him the great defender of American government who was willing to sacrifice freedoms to protect America, then I think that is a fair statement. I don’t find it very just of me to judge him from my cozy position in the year 2013, especially when all I’ve ever heard about the man is 100% pure evil. My guess is that McCarthy did some good things, had quite a few supporters, and maybe some of those good things had to do with his fight against communism. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s too easy to point at someone who everyone thinks is evil and to say “that guy’s totally evil.”
I think that Rado’s statement about McCarthy above fits nicely into this same point. I don’t particularly want to hear lots of praise for Meciar or lots of praise for McCarthy. Each of them deserve praise for the things they did right. If an independent Slovakia came about because of Meciar and you and I believe today that an independent Slovakia is a good idea, then I think that we should be willing to put aside the bad parts of Meciar and to be grateful that he was instrumental that someone brought about an independent Slovakia. Am I wrong? If people do bad things are they therefore not worthy of praise for any of the things that they did that had positive outcomes?
Thank you for writing, Aaron.
Allan
admin
Jan 3rd, 2013Rado,
I tied my response to you below into my response to Aaron. Thank you for writing further, Rado.
Allan
admin
Jan 3rd, 2013Someone with the screen name Basnik Durko wrote the following on my Facebook page in response to this piece – Allan
“There are no good or bad politicians. They are all puppets of those, who paid for their campaigns. Meciar is just a simple example of the power of the media. His life shows how easily can an individual be erased from a public life, once he’s not going the way he is supposed to…”
Lupask
Jan 3rd, 2013There’s just not enough time passed to truly evaluate if what happened was ultimately good or no… We all need to accept nothing is black or white. Too bad the velvet divorce was probably the only good he ever did
Katka
Jan 3rd, 2013Controversial as always – Stevo never disappoints! : )
Scooby Doobie
Jan 3rd, 2013I’m quite certain that no major politician in Slovakia has ever been indicted of any crime. It’s probably because they are all crooks and therefore is a case of one hand washing the other.
What I don’t get is your never ceasing idealization of a lot of nasty elements in Slovakia, even the politics! If cheering for a corrupt, violent, cronyist despot like Meciar isn’t a sign of being detached from reality, I don’t know what is.
Sure, I know that you want to point out that politicians are thieving, greedy animals the world over, but in Slovakia they don’t even seem to want to try to hide their graft and their disrespect for the people who’s money they steal.
Let’s face the facts, Slovak politics is rotten. And frankly its the passive and submissive populous that is responsible for it happening again and again despite the fact that they KNOW that its rotten.
If the country stood up for themselves and made an effort to change things rather than just indulging themselves in Borovicka and feigning meekness as simple country folk, then I’d have a lot more respect for them as a culture. But they get the system they deserve, just like everyone else does.
admin
Jan 7th, 2013Scooby Doobie,
I like the picture you paint where Slovaks evict the jerks from the parliament. It’s not a realistic one however. It suffers from a common problem with the utopian writers of every generation “Slovakia would be great if it weren’t for the Slovaks.” “Christianity would be great if it weren’t for the Christians.” “Communism would be great if it weren’t for the people.”
If for a moment we were able to transcend what you momentarily feel is good or bad, we would be left with what simply is. This is a lesson Slovakia will teach if you let it. The fact of the matter is that you’ve described some aspects of Slovak culture. Instead of looking at what is good or bad about Slovak culture, isn’t there a lot of benefit to asking yourself “how does this method of existence work for the person I am looking at right now?” It eliminates almost all frustration about a host culture and fills the asker of the question with tremendous understanding. I’m not saying you need to do that, or even that you should do that, all I’m saying is that people who do that automatically stop wagging their finger over a lot of stuff. This opinion you have in the style of “Slovakia would be great if it weren’t for the Slovaks,” misses the reality of the situation – Slovakia is populated by Slovaks and they make Slovakia what it is. This Slovakia would be great if it weren’t for the Slovaks opinion you have is by it’s very nature lacking in reality. Do you propose an ethnic cleansing campaign to rid Slovakia of the Slovaks? If not, then what is the point of making such a statement? Do you appreciate anything about Slovakia? Were you simply in a bad mood when you wrote this? If so, that’s okay. Everyone is entitled to be in a bad mood now and again.
Yes, Slovak politics is rotten. Politics is rotten everywhere. That’s the nature of politics. Some people don’t understand that, which is fine. Neither you or I are going to change the fact that humans in a political environment interact in a certain way. You can be realistic and force someone you dislike from power, but that is the best you are going to do, because in the near future you will be ousting the next person you dislike from power and eventually someone will oust you from power. While you are in power, you are likely to be changed and perhaps corrupted by the power. In the system of democracy that many of us idealize, there’s not a lot of choice in alternatives other than this constant game of ousting and being changed by the nature of power. Slovak political participation is very different from the ultra-active political tradition that I grew up in. Different doesn’t make it better or worse. At the moment, I see a lot of advantages to the Slovak method that it took me many years of living in Slovakia to begin to appreciate. Now you are saying that I am out of touch with reality because I spent enough time quietly observing to have realized positive sides to this culture that few foreigners ever get deep enough into Slovak culture to realize? If Slovak politicians refuse to hide their graft well is that supposed to be a big strike against them as opposed to someone a politician who does hide his or her graft well? The difference you are looking for in that situation is entirely superficial.
“People get the system they deserve” is a very collectivist way of looking at society. Ceasing to see people with individual rights is a dangerous road to go down. I will not spend time here right now revisiting the many sad, sad moments in the 20th century when collectivist thinking led to widescale misery and even death for what totals several hundred millions of people worldwide. I would like to believe that this collectivist thinking will be something that history will be able to remember as being left in the 20th century. Essentially you are putting collective blame on any individual in a group. Those people who you blame do not ask for the system they have and they do not choose to spend their precious time on earth fighting the system they have. Many Slovaks have moved beyond politics. You might look at that and say that Slovaks are living in the 1450s. I look at it and realize that Slovaks are years ahead of Western society. Some intelligent people in the world predict that nation states will break down and lose validity. At some point another method of organization will take place. Slovaks, with little attachment to the government in Bratislava that forms their nation state will be left a step ahead in this process.
With a collectivist mindset like the one you are demonstrating in your comment, you can take any individual X and blame him for any incident of history Y that befell group of people Z. I’m not sure that 14 year old Peggy Sue from Rapid City, Iowa has the government she deserves. I also don’t think 81 year old Jano from Nove Zamky, Slovakia has the government he deserves. And I’m pretty sure that the same is true for a lot of 14 to 81 year olds across the world. They do not have the government they deserve. I mean seriously? “[Slovaks] get the system they deserve?” Did you really think through that statement before you wrote it? Did you just pull it out of the air like everyone else who uses it? That’s called “received wisdom” right? It’s the wisdom you overhear enough times that you start repeating it. It’s not usually all that wise, which makes it sort of funny that it’s referred to as received wisdom. If we each governed ourselves (a style of government that is written about by many writers) that might be the case, we might each end up with the government we deserve. We don’t each individually choose how we are governed, or who governs us, so it doesn’t really make sense that you would claim something like “they get the system they deserve” about anyone. No matter how popular that sentence is, it is generally not a truthful sentence.
The tone you take is from an impartial observer who is not from Slovakia. I find it hard to believe that politics in your homeland is less corrupt than in Slovakia, because I know that politics in every country in which I have observed the political environment has a high level of corruption in which the political class fends for itself, often at the detriment of the people. That’s part of the nature of government and politics.
Please be so kind as to explain what this sentence means and to offer a few references. “What I don’t get is your never ceasing idealization of a lot of nasty elements in Slovakia.” Much of what I do ceases very regularly and plenty of self-questioning happens – usually very much in the open in the pages of this website. Is it that I am in disagreement with you that you don’t understand or do you genuinely not understand my arguments for aspects of Slovak culture I appreciate?
If Meciar was “blamed” for wedging the Czechoslovakia in two, then Meciar should be credited for forming an independent Slovak Republic. The exact same actions are required to make both the positive and negative consequences of that situation happen. You can’t try to ignore that the positive side happened while highlighting that the negative side happened. Aren’t you the one who is “detached from reality” if you refuse to credit the good with the bad, make a statement along the lines of ‘Slovakia would be great without the Slovaks,’ and make the foolish claim that people get the government they deserve. Seriously man. Sorry if you don’t like Meciar much. He’s part of reality. What’s done is done and unless you want to drop the 1990s down a memory hole there’s not much of a way to get rid of the fact that Meciar is the father of the Slovak Republic.
Allan
Julius
Jan 7th, 2013Dear Allan,
I think your article “Meciar – Father of the Slovak Republic” is well written, also your reactions to the comments by readers. I am just not sure if you are right when you say: “A lot of Slovaks dislike Meciar; some like him.” I think it should rather read: “A lot of Slovaks like Meciar; some dislike him.” The point is that those who dislike him (frequently for reasons acceptable just to themselves and their friends) have much better possibilities to present publicly their point of view (in TV’s, newspapers etc.).
In other words, it is considered “trendy” in some type of media (and they
are not low in number) to criticize Meciar for whatever reasons, in spite
of the fact that none from the accusations brought against him have been
proved. Well, but this is nothing new.
In fact, this phenomenon accompanies Vladimir Meciar across all his public life. You certainly know that the world before 1993 almost totally ignored Slovakia and Slovaks (“Czech” was used as the correct adjective instead of “Czechoslovak”, the “Czechoslovak” Embassies in almost all countries were in fact just Czech Embassies etc.). So the world was naturally surprised when suddenly the Slovaks — and V. Meciar quickly became their most visible representative (the others, who could also play a similar role, were too hesitant or didn’t have the necessary charisma, they were unable or unwilling to speak to “simple people”) — have emerged on the political scene, telling that they are here, that they were already for centuries here, and they wish to be independent of the Czechs.
The original reaction of Czechs was apparently strongly negative (some circles there started to consider even a military invasion to Slovakia; this was stopped when President Havel declared: “Well, we perhaps shouldn’t send tanks against those Slovaks!”; of course, tanks would have completely destroyed his carefully created image), and so they were very happy to hear from the world media all possible negative information
(sometimes formulated directly in Prague…) on Slovakia. An example of such a piece of information is the article by Hermann Tertsch, “Una, pobre y libre ESLOVAQUIA” (Single, poor and free SLOVAKIA) published in a weekly addendum to the Spanish daily El Pais, which appeared just some days before January 1, 1993; this is a masterpiece of anti-Slovak propaganda. Allan, I send you a pdf of a copy of this
article; so if some reader wishes, he/she could ask you to send him that. For those who cannot read in Spanish, I just translate a commentary to the picture with a violinist on p. 47 of this article: “The Czechs have considered the Slovaks as their silly and pious brothers. Next year they will go different ways.” It is interesting that the photo itself is well-known; it was done by a famous Slovak artistic photographer Karol Kallay (he died some month ago), and the violinist with widely open eyes, who perhaps should represent a typical silly and pious Slovak, is a renowned Slovak painter Milan Laluha (of course these data do not appear in the article!). Well, also some page before, the commentary next to the picture of a striptease-girl ends so: “At cafes, nobody pays attention to the striptease-girl.” Yah, can the Slovaks be more terrible?
In this atmosphere, a strong (perhaps even immortal?!) cliche appeared in the world media: Meciar is a former boxer (that he was a professional lawyer was mostly kept hidden), an impulsive person etc., and almost all reports on him and Slovak affairs were flawed by this. I understand that his position in the negotations with representatives of other countries, but also in the internal affairs (many people just wanted to use him, get something from him, but they started to hate him when he required hard work and responsibility from them), was really very difficult.
He certainly also made some mistakes. But who is perfect? In my opinion, if some human being deserves to be called “Father of the Slovak Republic”, then Vladimir Meciar is the only right candidate.
Best regards,
Julo
Veronika
Jan 11th, 2013I think the main problem here is that the word “father” has too many hidden emotions inside. If you call someone a father, people automatically assume that the person is respectable and treats his child with unselfish love. However, Meciar’s attitude to Slovakia can be hardly called unselfish (because of all the factories sold to his family and friends for just a funny fraction of the real price) and he himself can be hardly called respectable (because of assasination and kidnap that he approved).
Just for the completeness, I agree that he played an important part in the separation and also that it was a good thing. I just feel that the word “father” is… well, inappropriate. This has nothing to do with logical arguments, it excites emotional reactions.
L.
Jan 11th, 2013I get your point, but if you say that it doesn’t matter what kind of leader he was (a brutal semi-dictator responsible for murders, kidnappings, extreme corruption…), you might as well call Tiso the real father of Slovakia.
jurinko
Jan 14th, 2013Hi. I have not read the whole discussion, just bits of it, so if I say something someone said before, I am sorry.
I guess there is always necessary to know the motive of persons we are trying to evaluate. I guess that Meciar’s motives were ultimately selfish, he needed his own state in which he and his comrades could get rich at the expenses of common folks. His rule was one of propaganda, oppresion, corruption and even misuse of secret service (to spy on, kidnap and even murder citizens of the very state he was a “father” of).
Yes, you may call him a “father of Slovakia”, but he is as much a “father” as anyone, who had a one-night stand in a bar and then uses his child to his own profit.
The term “father” usually consists of wisdom, love, care and unselfishness. It means representing the example of honour and values to one’s children and ensuring those children become good persons in their adult life. These are hardly attributes of Meciar’s behavior. Therefore the term “father” can be only used in a sense of “biological father”, not as a “father” in general (involving abovementioned attributes).
(And, of course, calling Meciar a “father of Slovakia” was repeatedly used by his own propaganda, which makes many Slovaks kind of sensitive about this image.)
danubius
Feb 7th, 2013It suffers from a common problem with the utopian writers of every generation “Slovakia would be great if it weren’t for the Slovaks.” “Christianity would be great if it weren’t for the Christians.” “Communism would be great if it weren’t for the people.” – EXCELLENT!
____
BTW – there are realistically only two “Fathers” of Slovakia – Josef Tiso in 1939, when he had the guts to form the fist Slovak State in the war-torn Europe; and Vladimir Meciar, in 1992, when he saw the opportunity to form the independent Slovakia!
Neither have been rewarded much for their effort. Tiso, because the Czech President E. Benes had him executed in 1946 for treason; and Meciar because it is too early to judge if the Slovaks actually ‘deserve’ the independent Slovakia.