Martin Weiss on the lack of understanding about Eastern Europe

The European Court of Human Rights has once again awarded beneficiaries of the former communist regime in Prague compensation. Czechs who purchased confiscated property as living accommodation and were forced to return it are to receive compensation equal to the price they paid for the properties back then. This shows that Western Europe has still not understood communism, writes Martin Weiss in the conservative daily Lidové noviny: "The court in Strasbourg has not dealt with how communism really worked. It judges by the current standards of the constitutional state, with the result that it is condoning immorality. ... But it would be too easy just to moan about the incorrigible Western European Left. We have failed to ensure that reflection on our historical experiences becomes a fixed element in the pan-European conscience. And all because we ourselves have not reflected properly on these experiences."

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