Czech Fears Escalation with Russia

By: Caroline James

Produced & Edited By: Megan Laird 

Intricate architecture and eighteen bridges cross over the Vlatava River that cuts through the middle of Prague. Lauded as one of the most beautiful sites in the world, the ornate Charles Bridge gives a view of the ‘City of 100 Spires’ and one of the most historical sites in Europe. However, when Prague was accidentally bombed in 1945 by an American air raid, the sights from the Charles Bridge filled with smoke and flame. 

© Courtesy of Caroline James

After German occupation in World War II, the Czech Republic shed its communist government and now holds claim to the highest standard of living of any former Soviet block country. It’s capital city, Prague, has the highest GDP of any European Union member, with the exception of Luxemburg. 

But the Prague Post says that war is still in the minds of Czech citizens. In a poll released by the Median agency in August of 2014, it stated that 46 percent of Czech citizens fear that armed conflicts may escalate and threaten the Czech Republic. The poll also found that citizens consider the Russia/Ukraine conflict to be the biggest current risk to the Czech Republic.

In the aftermath of the Ukrainian Revolution of 2014, conflict erupted with demonstrations and riots by pro-Russian and anti-United Nations groups. Russia attempted to annex Crimea and deployed troops to the area. Conflicts in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces have since led to an armed separatist movement. In response to these insurgents, the Ukrainian government launched a military counter-offensive that has resulted in the current War in Donbass.

In an article by České Noviny, Czech Foreign Minister, Lubomir Zaoralek, and Polish Foreign Minister, Grzegorz Schetyna, announced that sanctions against Russia for their actions with Ukraine are necessary.

"We will actively stand up against all the violations of international commitments by Russia,” Schetyna said. Vanesa Šandová, Head of the Press office for the Government of the Czech Republic, said the conflict in Ukraine can only be solved through political processes and that a military solution cannot be viable. 

The Czech government is also seeking to improve political and economic relations with Russia despite recent disputes.

“Regrettably, in recent months Russia has not been acting as a responsible and reliable partner.” Šandová said.  “It is up to Russia to open the way for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine without further loss of lives and damage caused to Russia's position in the international community.”

© Courtesy of Caroline James

Because the Czech Republic belongs to the European Union it has to function under the rules and regulations that have been set forth by the many western countries. Czech citizens have felt both the benefits and drawbacks to being part of the international organization.

“I absolutely resent the EU's expansionist policy they've been practicing for quite a while now, which has put us into the spotlight in this matter.” Pavel, a resident of Prague, said.

The Czech Republic also faces economic concerns with the conflict in Ukraine because of the natural gas and fuel supplies it receives from Russia, the pipelines of which are routed through Ukraine. Recently, the Temelin nuclear plant has reported that, if cut off from Russian resources, the already stocked fuel would last one year. 

Kynčl Miroslav of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that scenarios for loss of fuel from Russia have already been planned out. Other liquid fuels, such as oil, that are supplied to the Czech market via Russia, can be fully supplied from other sources; however, this is not the case with natural gas.

“In case of total interruption of natural gas supplies there are a capacity of underground storages in the Czech Republic available,” Miroslav said. “However, it will be necessary to apply limiting regulatory levels, including purchase of natural gas from non-Russian sources.”

Petr Poláček, an Olomouc Resident believes that even with alternative sources, the loss of Russian resources would have a large negative impact on Czech citizens.

“[Alternative sources] would take time to negotiate, the transport would be extremely slow and the prices would skyrocket,” Poláček said. “The impact on our economy would be devastating.” 

© Courtesy of Caroline James

However some citizens doubt the likelihood of Russia cutting off fuel supply. Pavel said that the Russian economy depends too much on exporting their resources for this tactic to be a viable option. “This is something Russia simply cannot afford to do.” Pavel said. 

The Czech Government recently promised to increase military spending to 1.4% by 2020. While some people think that this increase is a result of the conflict in Ukraine, Šandová says that this increase is meant to comply with NATO commitments of maintaining an adequate level of defense spending.

“The purpose of this move is to stabilize the defense budget and secure favorable conditions for further development of Czech armed forces so that the Czech Republic is also in the future able to fulfill its commitments within the NATO,” Šandová said.

While Šandová says that energy security is one of the priorities for the Czech Republic, the Czech citizen’s concern over war with Russia is split. “People around me express their fear for the Muslim terrorism, ISIS etc. not Russia,” Pavel said.

Some Czechs resent the way NATO seems to be influencing their country’s foreign policy.

“Personally I am convinced there will be war and it won't be Russia who starts it,” Poláček said. “Unless NATO starts playing Kick the Rancor with, say, ISIS rather than Russia, it will only be a matter of time.”

While the conflict with Russia seems to have the Czech Republic on edge and the citizens wary, the view from the Charles Bridge remains, for the time being, serene. The country seems to be trying to manage the balance between avoiding armed conflict with Russia and honoring their political commitments.

The Native American Culture.. a look into the past

Yousef Kazim, 2014 SUSI Scholar

In our first cultural trips as SUSI 2014 Scholars was to the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ohio, which was a great opportunity to have a closer look to mounds and earthworks that were built by Native American hands almost 2,000 years ago.

The most interesting thing about those Hopewell Indians earthworks that they were in the form of circles, squares, and other geometric shapes and in different sites, which might force you to ask yourself: how come that those Hopewell Indians knew that much about geometry and architecture?

During that visit, I tried – for the first time in my life – to practice a new thing which was Video Editing, and to be honest, it was a good start, and I wish you share the result of that experience through having a look to my "Native American Culture" short documentary.

The US you don't see in the media - Little cities of black diamonds

By Radu Meza, Romania (SUSI scholar 2014)

There is much to be said about US culture, and when looking at it exclusively through the overwhelming, globalized media output some of the finer points might elude us and even a keen analyst of popular culture might be tempted to reach misguided conclusions based on superficial knowledge. 

Coming from Europe, where communities cling to their history, and define their identity mainly through their diverging narratives of past conflict, I was expecting a very different, dynamic or rather fluid identity focused on the "now". A short trip through small dilapidated mining towns and shady back country roads connecting scattered homes showed me how wrong my assumptions had been. Far away from the big city lights or the urban or suburban setting standardized world-wide by the big media, the little cities of black diamonds in poverty-stricken Appalachian Ohio like Nelsonville, Haydenville or Shawnee, live trapped in a conflictual industrial past.

Photos by Camilo Perez

Coal mining was once big business here, but now the mining towns, some built and owned by the companies themselves, are barely surviving as ghost attractions for the occasional tourist who ventures into this widely ignored side of the US. Perhaps the best memorial to industrial age struggles between coal miners' unions and companies is the fire burning deep down underground continuously for the past 120 years - after being started by strikers in the late 19th century. As we climbed up the stairs to Robinson's Cave where some of the defining moments in workers' unions had been decided, our guide - a short of breath, somewhat overweight lady in her sixties armed with a jug of Gatorade told us, sparing little detail, about work conditions, technology and tragedies, strikes and strike-breakers, ethnic tensions, moonshine, secret compartments hidden illegal distilleries during theProhibition, company abuses, life and death in communities now populated by old nostalgics living in the crumbling ruins of once lively towns.

Photos by Camilo Perez

Further on, an energetic old gentleman wearing a straw hat and a cane, owner of several decrepit historical buildings in a small city center, self-proclaimed semi-professional hoarder of a curious assortment of local antiques, took us into the old community ball room, cinema, theatre and indoor basketball arena - all-in-one. Having climbed a steep, dark, wooden staircase we reached a huge floor of creaking half-rotten planks, holding evidence of the owner's passion for collecting or rather salvaging anything from painted canvas theatrical scenery to cinema projectors or box office paraphernalia. Our guide told us he had plans for renovating and turning the old buildings into museums, but as anywhere, there is rarely money to spare at county or state level for investment into an ageing, remote community that is now barely around 600.

However close or distant, short or long it may be, communities, especially small ones, look at common, shared history, often intertwined with personal narratives in order to make sense of their lives. When living inside the decrepit shell of an industrial mining town, there's no choice but to cling to a past where life was about conflict, competition and struggling, not just carrying on.

Striving for traditions in Athens.

When I learned that I am going to a place called “Athens” in Ohio, I laughed. I laughed about the fact that the USA has so little of its own that it even had to borrow town names, but nevertheless I wondered why it was named that way.

 When you think of the USA,  things that come to mind first are the Hollywood, first man on the moon, the stars and stripes on the American flag, skyscrapers, BBQ parties, the statue of Liberty, rednecks, cheerleaders and American football, well anything, but tradition.

Athens on the contrary is a small town of traditions. It hosts the oldest university in Northwest, the architecture is preserved to fit the Greek-styled two-storied buildings, the first Christian church in Athens proudly displays the date on its wall.

 Athens takes pride in its history, hosting weekly the oldest Farm Market in the state, Athenians still shop locally and resist occurrence of Starbucks, instead choosing local coffee shop that serves caffeine with conscience. 

Obviously, globalisation didn’t leave Athens aside, bringing Apple stores, thousands of overseas students, international cantines and Russian language classes in town. But when it comes to tradition, Athens shows its best.  Athenians smile at you nicely, take their time to greet you and make sure that guests notice every tradition that Athens has to cherish. 

The memorials of Native American and Hopewell cultures once nourished in this land, surrounding Athens are another silent reminders of what can happen to a culture stripped of its traditions.

Likewise contemporary Athenians, first permanent European settlers, who arrived in Athens in 1797 and chartered the Ohio University in 1804, named the country for the ancient center of learning, Athens, Greece, so that centuries after, people, like me would travel to Athens, Ohio to study and to remember how to strive and cherish the traditions.

P.S. And following the newly acquired American tradition, Happy July 4th, everyone ;)!

Nargiza Ryskulova 
Kyrgyzstan