Postcard from Prague

The Czech Republic is a relatively small country. As I often explain, if I were to drive north, west or south from where I live in Prague, in less than two and a half hours, I can be in another country – Poland, Germany or Austria. As a Texan member of my congregation has told me, it would take him around twelve hours to drive from his former home in Texas, just to reach the next US state. It does put the size of this Central European nation in perspective.

But note that I said ‘Central European nation’ – do not ever suggest to a Czech that they are part of ‘Eastern Europe’. As well as rebuking you, they will point out that no one regards Vienna as part of ‘Eastern Europe’ and then ask you to look at a map and see how much farther east Vienna is than Prague!

Therefore when the Czech Republic joined the European Union on 1^st May 2004, it was seen by most Czech people, as the final stage of being reconnected to that part of Europe from which they had been cut off since 1948, by the Iron Curtain. The country already had the best GDP of all the eight former communist states admitted to the EU that day, and has since continued to enjoy economic growth and prosperity.

The country has very much benefited with grants from the EU Regional Development Fund which have contributed to great improvements in the transport infrastructure. Here in Prague, a Metro line has been extended and tram tracks have been renewed. On my frequent journeys along the D1, the motorway linking Prague and Brno, I observe whole sections that have either been rebuilt, or are being rebuilt, work made possible by EU funding.

Yet despite all these economic benefits, some of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s concerns regarding the EU, do resonate with many Czechs. In particular, the desire for decision-making by the national parliament, rather than being dictated to from Brussels.

For centuries, the Czechs were a subjugated people - part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With the collapse of that empire in 1918, they then enjoyed twenty years of independence and freedom within the new nation state of Czechoslovakia, until 1938 when Hitler took over. More than six years of Nazi rule were soon followed by nearly forty-two years of Communist oppression, orchestrated from Moscow. Having regained control of their own destiny once more at the end of 1989, they are reluctant to lose it again.

The current Czech government particularly objects to the imposition of refugee quotas by diktat from Brussels. There is great fear that taking in Middle Eastern refugees, will change the country’s culture which is very much tied up with the Czech language. There is the belief that refugees will not learn to speak Czech, nor adopt cultural norms.

Fortunately, there have been brave individuals, including several Christian leaders, who have sought to address the hypocrisy of these views. They have rightly pointed out how many Czech refugees were welcomed by the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavian countries, when they fled from Hitler in 1938, from the communists in 1948, and following the Soviet invasion of 1968.

The one issue for which the British Prime Minister found no Czech support during his visits to Prague, was regarding any suggestion of restrictions being introduced, impinging on the right of EU citizens to freely move to and work in other member states. Czech people have enjoyed their freedom to live and work elsewhere in the EU, particularly in the UK and in Germany, and have no intention whatsoever, of surrendering their right to do so.

About the author

Rev’d Ricky Yates is the Anglican Chaplain based in Prague, the only Anglican priest in the whole of the Czech Republic. He leads a multi-national Anglican congregation in Prague, together with a small satellite congregation in Brno. Since the beginning of 2016, he has also taken responsibility for the monthly English-language Anglican Service, hosted by the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany. Before moving to Prague in September 2008, for over fifteen years he was Rector of a rural multi-parish benefice in North Oxfordshire.