December 9, 2009 - One of the goals of the Pontis Foundation is to enforce foreign policy of Slovakia and the European Union based on values of democracy, human rights and solidarity. On the occasion of Human Rights Day on December 10th, Pontis Foundation annually evaluates foreign politics of our country.
Over the past twelve months within the global agenda human rights and their significance was set aside due to geopolitical aims. This was demonstrated i.e. on the cautious relationship of the new American administration with China, or on the „warming“ relations of a part of the European Union with the dictatorship in Cuba. In contrast to this trend, support for non-violent opposition in Burma, Iran and other oppressive regimes strengthened in the democratic world.
Slovak foreign politics usually passively copied these trends. On one side it ignored all requests for a symbolic opening of these topics in a dialogue with China, on the other side, Slovakia demonstrated its firm stance by criticizing violation of human rights during the after-election demonstrations in Iran.
Our democratic face in the world was thus in the past year consistent predominantly in its “two-facedness”. The year 2009 was for Central and Eastern Europe symbolic: we commemorated the 20th anniversary of the renewal of freedom and democracy, which started with student protests. Upkeeping the tradition of November 1989, from which the Slovak democratic system stems, is a part of our identity as a modern country with large-minded citizens, who are not ignorant to what is going on in other parts of the world.
Slovakia was the first EU country visited by the Chinese president Chu «in-tchao a few days after the 20th anniversary of the bloody suppression of the student protest in Beijing. Three of the highest constitutional representatives of Slovakia refused to make even an obligatory remark stating a different opinion on the state of human rights in China. They have thus confirmed the non-sovereign, servile approach to the guest. The Slovak security forces behaved in a similarly servile manner, when they allowed violent intervention of foreign agents against Slovak citizens who protested in front of the Presidential palace. Top Slovak representatives lacked courage also in September, when they did not officially receive the Dalai Lama during his stay in Bratislava.
In 2009 a promising development took turn in Belarus. Lukashenko agreed to an official dialogue on human rights with the EU and started to „loosen“ the situation in the country. Slovak diplomacy participated in the process of EU evaluation of the changes in Belarus. On the contrary, in countries where the situation is not improving (i.e. Cuba), Slovakia is holding out to see in which direction the European mainstream will move, disregarding its own principles.
The end of the year 2009 in Slovakia meant new possibilities: the Treaty of Lisbon enhanced the position of the EU in world politics and moved the centre of foreign politics debates to Brussels. Our country thus gained new possibilities to influence world events. If we don’t want to see the positions of the European Union in global questions remain only on the level of geopolitics and games with a zero outcome, and want them to reflect values of human rights and freedom, we must start adopting these principles ourselves and apply them in our foreign politics.
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