1989. Czecholovakia. French silence

(archives) The creation of an opposition movement, its first successes and the decline of power provoked many reactions abroad.

One of the first to react was the Polish Prime Minister, Mazowiecki. The day before the Malta summit, a long telegram signed by President Bush, addressed to the Civic Forum, rejoiced at "the democratic advance in Czechoslovakia", while the English government welcomed "warmly the ongoing democratization process". Young people from different countries, especially in the east, were not left out. The Polish NZS and the Hungarian FIDESZ sent delegates to Prague. A representative of the Austrian students had brought last Sunday in Bratislava, a bouquet of flowers with tricolor colors, as a welcome gift on the eve of the opening of the border. Several political parties in Europe have expressed their wishes for solidarity, such as the Italian People's Party.

On the French side… nothing! Neither official press release, nor reaction from student organizations, nor message from non-governmental organizations, such as the France-Liberties Foundation for example, usually so quick to react. Damage ! Because the French memory is still alive in Czechoslovakia. The elderly do not fail to remember that France helped to create their Republic in 1918. And the portrait of the Franco-Slovak General Stefanik, who fought for independence, still symbolically adorns the buttonhole of students on strike in Slovakia .

(article published in the Quotidien de Paris, December 7, 1989)