Hala – APSA 2005
Czech/Axis, 2002
The last stage of deliberation on the Czech Republic’s fitness for EU membership
re-fueled protest against the Beneš decrees. Regional governments and NGOs in
Germany and Austria put pressure on their national governments and the Sudeten issue
made its way into party politics there. Germany and Austria threatened to block Czech
membership if no concessions were made. The Hungarian government echoed the
demands, speaking on behalf of ethnic Hungarian expellees. The states brought the
issues to the attention of the European Commission and the European Parliament, which
rebuked the Czech government for its obstinacy regarding the WWII expulsion.
Resentment towards ethnic Germans was renewed among the Czech public, and
its hostility spread to the Austrian and Hungarian nations. The specter of the WWII Axis
threat made its way into political discourse. Calls for peaceful reconciliation became
marginalized and protest against German interference resumed. Political parties in the
Czech Republic -- both the government coalition parties and the opposition -- responded
to external criticism by competing with one another to demonstrate their commitment to
defend national interests against its neighbors’ claims. In the 2002 election year, Czech
Prime Minister and head of the CSDP, Miloš Zeman, called the Sudeten Germans
“traitors” and Hitler’s “fifth column.”
The main opposition Civic Democrats spoke of a
“new axis of evil,” based in Munich, Vienna and Budapest.
spectrum, Czech political actors reaffirmed the boundary between the Czech nation and
its WWII foes.
14
“Premier Refuses to Apologize for Calling Sudeten Germans “Traitors”,” Czech News Agency, 1/8/02.
15
Czech News Agency, 0838 GMT 11 Mar 2002.
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Convention