Slovakia at a Crossroads of History

by Professor Dr Zoltan Adorjan, Bratislava

Like other countries, Slovakia came to a new crossroads of history in 1989/90, too; Slovakia needs to answer the question whether she wants to join the ranks of democracy and peace on the path that will lead mankind out of the contemporary cataclysms of war and crisis. After the demise of the bipolar world, the crumbling of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, an autocracy of a single superpower, the USA, has been established, with a world hegemony of supranational institutions of international capital. Now Slovakia must decide if she wants to join the forces of peace or join NATO, which means the powers of war, aggression and total globalization that will lead Europe and the whole of mankind into more and more new wars all over the world.

The parliamentary elections of last September are of historical importance for the direction in which Slovakia is heading. The right of the Slovak people to decide freely on its future destiny and its

future government must be guaranteed in the constitution of the Slovak republic and by the charter of the UN. This concept however does not fit in with the ideas of western globalization forces from the USA, NATO and EU. These forces are worried that the Slovak electorate might vote down both a NATO membership and a EU membership; in particular after the sharp decline of support for integration in the neighboring Czech Republic – as many as 47.4% of the polled sample, in a poll of the Brussel based Central Europe Opinions Research Group (CEORG); concerns against integration have in fact been raised in Poland and the entire Visegrad group.

On the occasion of the election, the western forces of globalization, not taking any chances, are also influencing the activities of their pro-western satellite parties and of the civil rights groups in the third sector by means of foreign advisers sent into Slovakia, and by offering them large financial support.

The Slovak people opposes this dictatorship of the globalization forces, just as it opposed the Nazi dictatorship during WW2, and the dictatorship of the five `brotherly’ armies in August 1968. But we are not able to struggle free from the dictatorship of the globalization forces all on our own. We can only succeed if democratic forces cooperate on a global level.

We are looking for the powers and means to withstand the increasing political and economical dictatorship of the globalization forces by EU, NATO and USA over sovereign nations, and also to act effectively against the expropriation of the possessions of these nations by all-powerful transnational corporations. Our opposition against a membership of Slovakia in a forcefully globalizing and expropriating EU does not constitute an attempt to divide the people of Slovakia, as happened in February 1948 when the first Iron Curtain was established after the victory of the Stalinist communists. On the contrary, it is an attempt to bring Slovakia as a member with equal rights into the family of free, democratic and neutral countries.

Given that recent opinion polls show relatively strong support for Slovakia becoming a member of the EU, namely support between 60% and 77%, after manipulation of public opinion by the government and the media, it is possible that we will become part of the present undemocratic EU. If this happens, we will work together with the other disadvantaged nations and democratic forces to eliminate the discriminatory character of the EU and towards a change for the better.

Finally, let me outline the main arguments of those opposing EU membership.

1. Instead of protesting, remaining neutral, or mediating, the EU agreed to the inhuman bombardment of Yugoslavia in 1999 and became a global tool in a global war, waged against Yugoslavia by the forces of globalization, against the community of Slavic nations in Europe, and against the peace of the world. It is only thanks to the great restraint shown by Russia that a justified counteroffensive, which would have destroyed Western Europe, was avoided.

2. The character of the EU is totalitarian, autocratic and discriminatory, and it is used unrelentlessly:

(a) against its own members - during the recent sanctions and actions of discrimination by the EU against Austria.

(b) against 10 candidate countries. For instance, in February, the Commission of the EU suggested lower payments to farmers in the candidate countries. To this, the four countries of the Visegrad group, which includes Slovakia, replied that they could not become members of the EU under these conditions because they would become merely contributers to the common budget and second class members. Another attempt to discriminate against the 10 candidates, once they become members, is by denying their citizens to work where they choose in the EU for a period of 7 years.

3. The EU displays characteristics of larceny and expropriation, as could clearly be seen during the privatisation of stratecic companies and banks in Slovakia. Bidders among the ranks of supranational corporations were preferred and domestic bidders were excluded. This way, the privatization became a kind of ‘Aryanization’, i.e. expropriation of the common property of the Slovak people for the benefit of a new master race of international corporations.

4. The EU is a supranational institution of world capital aiming at a regulation of the European region of capital movements. It is destructive towards nation states. This can be seen in the piecemeal destruction of nations towards their complete transformation into mere names in the files; the most recent example being the doing away with national currencies and the introduction of the Euro as a new transnational ‘European’’ currency on January 1, 2002.

This destructive character of the EU could be seen in its policy towards the formerly socialist membership candidates during the period of return to the neocapitalist system right after the fall of the wall. The globalizers introduced a destructive and restrictive economic system under the cover of ‘ransformation’, with the purpose of cheaply expropriating the rapidly ruined and depreciated state enterprises and cooperatives and the banks by members of the supranational corporations. In Slovakia, privatization was temporarily blocked by the Meciar government.

After the satellite government of Dzurinda was installed, all strategic enterprises and banks in Slovakia, with a total value of 1 trillion SKr, were sold rapidly and cheaply, at a basar prize of 3 billion SKr.

As a consequence of this largest robbery in history, the economy of Slovakia is completely ruined and in debt. We have 600,000 unemployed [total population 5.3 million -ed.], a sad record in Europe, and this qualifies as a state of emergency. A stiff price indeed for a ‘successful’ transformation! May God protect Austria, Switzerland and other Western European countries, which are still in possession of their national property, from such privatization and transformation!

For this reason we appeal to the Slovak government not to become a member of the EU until our national property has been restored, which, according to the charter of the United Nations, is the due right of every nation. What we need is not aid, but to be left in peace so that the western globalization forces do not keep destroying and expropriating our national property. 

Professor Dr. Zoltan Adorjan is Chairman of the Citizens Association of the League of Slavic and Friendly States