Hungary and Central Europe's image

Jan Machacek writes that the television images of the riots in Budapest on the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution have thrown a bad light on Central Europe as a whole. "We Eastern Europeans are a strange folk. First we had the likes of Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa, now we have nationalists, populists and liars, violence and 'street votes' reminiscent of those in Mexico or Argentina. It's easy to forget that the same kind of thing happened in Paris a year ago. We Czechs shouldn't allow ourselves to think this new wave of disrespect doesn't affect us. Nor should we be angry with the Hungarians. They have earned our respect and admiration for their actions in 1956. We have no right to make fun of them. If there are no violent demonstrations here in the Czech Republic it's because we have a different temperament and not because we have a superior political culture. Hungarians like spicy goulash while we prefer bland dumplings. But does this make our politicians any less deceitful or corrupt than those in Budapest?"

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