Dealing with the past in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Like several of its neighbouring countries, the Czech Republic now plans to set up a special public authority to deal with the crimes of communism. The corresponding proposal was accepted yesterday in the second chamber of the Parliament in Prague. Renata Havranova points out that Slovakia has had a similar institution, the "Nation's Memory Institute", since 2003, but that there were considerable problems when the idea was first proposed. "For a long time the political will to punish the crimes of communism and expose Stasi collaborators was lacking. Former President Rudolf Schuster justified his veto against the creation of the institute, saying that the files were incomplete and that they could be put to improper use. Had it not been for the persistent efforts of civil rights activists like Jan Langos and Jan Carnogurski, this institution would not exist today. Now the institute is already dealing with Slovakia's fascist era and the Aryanization of Jewish property.

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