The doors of the Czech presidential residence are now closed to US Ambassador in Prague, Andrew Schapiro, after the former Chicago lawyer unduly advised Czech leader Milos Zeman against attending a Victory Day parade in Moscow.
Why are the Czechs so eagerly licking Putin’s anal cavity? Are they expecting a handout? Is life that harsh? Or are they nostalgic for 1968?
“It’s my party and I’ll go if I want to?”
Given Obama’s tendency to unite his enemies and discourage his allies, why should we be surprised if the Czech Rep. wants to play nice?
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As I was just saying in another thread, “If only I could convince myself that people pay attention to historic events and take them into account when working out life strategies. But I have never seen any evidence that this happens.” The Czechs easily and happily dismissed the decades of the Soviet rule and the invasion of the 1968.
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It is not the role of a foreign ambassador to advise a head of state on which ceremonial occasions he should attend. In parliamentary systems, presidents are usually ceremonial figures who perform their duties on the advice of the prime minister. For a foreign ambassador to attempt to instruct a president on the performance of his ceremonial duties is a major breach of protocol. If the US State Department wishes to urge foreign representatives to avoid an event, our ambassador should be speaking to the government, which will reach a decision and advise the President accordingly. I’m not supportive of Putin, but diplomats need to be diplomatic.
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And why does the US find it appropriate to instruct anyone, even through appropriate channels, how they should behave?
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Sometimes countries try to coordinate diplomatic responses to a situation. To that end, it can be perfectly appropriate for one government to say to another “We are going to refrain from attending this event, and we suggest that our allies consider responding similarly.” However, that sort of communication has to be handled diplomatically, as a two-way conversation through proper channels.
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“However, that sort of communication has to be handled diplomatically, as a two-way conversation through proper channels.”
I feel really bothered by this, “If you don’t coddle us enough, we will run to Uncle Putin who will be kinder towards us” approach that I’m seeing in Greece, the Czech Republic, and possibly Spain in the near future. It’s shocking that the Czechs are selling out like this.
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—Maybe now is not the time to create a huge song and dance around the tender sensibilities of the pouty Czechs.
Not a way to make allies this attitude is.
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Because if Putin chooses to invade any of the countries in the region , they will come running to the US, begging for help and protection.
Come on, folks, let’s be realistic here. Client states do what their owners tell them. The Czechs have amply proven that they are a puppy in search of an owner in this very situation. What’s there to respect in this position?
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What if the Czech decided to behave not as anybody’s client state? Beside, all this “client state” shit is straight from Putinoid vocabulary. Or is it good to be a client state as long as we like the owner?
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“What if the Czech decided to behave not as anybody’s client state?”
“Not a way to make allies this attitude is.”
I pay taxes in the US and they go, to a large extent, to keep an enormous military. These are the costs that the NATO countries are off-loading onto us. OK, that’s fine, I guess. But as long as they are doing that, maybe childish tantrums and running to the kindly Uncle Putin are not a good idea.
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Well, if we are into naming things by their real names – I do not believe in the abstract benevolence of the US. If the US is spending large amounts on its military – the US is doing that not to protect either “allies” or “client states”, but to protect its own interests.
At the moment, the Eastern Europe owes little to the US. The US owes more to Eastern Europe, as the latter was supplying troops for ethically questionable American wars. ( in order to buy American protection for the future and to gain real combat experience).
Eastern European countries have nothing to lose by behaving independently. If protecting them is in the US interests, the US will protect them anyway. And even pay them for the privilege to have American bases on their territories. If not, the US will not protect them anyway. Just will insist that it “does not recognize the unlawful occupation of X”. Which is appreciated, but…
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We’ve gotten into circular reasoning here. The Czechs are not being asked to provide any troops. Do they even have troops? All they are asked is to stand in solidarity with their sisters and brothers in Ukraine and not legitimize the ridiculous rites of the people who hold Nazi conferences and invade peaceful countries while threatening the world with nuclear strikes. That’s not an unreasonable or onerous request. And they can’t even do this? Shame on them.
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This is a totally reasonable request when it comes from Czechs’ equals. It becomes an unreasonable request when made from a position of superiority and “you are the client state, why the f**k you dare behaving independently”.
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If that’s their vision of behaving independently, then it’s a definition of independence unlike any I’ve ever encountered.
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Why should Eastern Europe deal with the US from the position of “captive client”?
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Because to paraphrase the famous saying, “They are so far from heaven and so close to Kremlin.” 🙂
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I have a philosophical problem with this stance. Because this is essentially the same “realpolitic” the Putinoids are espousing, the only difference is in the sign (+/-, I mean political preferences).
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I’m reminded of an old Polish joke about the courage of the Czechs
“Tu howori Radio Praha,
neboime se, jen mame stracha”*
rough translation:
“This is Radio Prague, on the air
We have no fear, we’re just scared”
*not Czech or Polish but a kind of mish-mash of the two
I don’t know what the Czechs are afraid of they don’t have anything remotely resembling a border with any post Soviet state.
On the other hand Zeman (IIRC) is notoriously thin-skinned and as everybody is saying the ambassador overstepped his role. He should have explained the US position and not mention the Czech leader (and refuse comment if asked).
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I don’t think they are afraid as much as they want handouts. Like the Greeks.
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“they want handouts. Like the Greeks”
Czech per capita DPD is significantly higher (both PPP and nominal) than Russia’s and without the crushing debts that are hobbling Greece.
There also might be …. financial considerations of a different kind. IIRC the Czech Republic was one of those places that some Russians were parking assets away from the historically sticky fingered politicians of their homeland. Nothing like the UK but for a smaller country it could be considerable.
Mostly, it’s more a combination of a rookie ambassador overstepping his role and prickly Austro-Hungarian style politicians.
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
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