Berlin- Former Czech president Vaclav Havel called for greater
international solidarity for the benefit of freedom and human rights in
Cuba, at the start of a two-day meeting of the International Committee
for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC) in Berlin.
Havel addressed his appeal mainly to the European Union.
"Everything that serves human rights and freedoms must be paid
attention," Havel said.
He stressed the importance of international support, referring to his
personal experience from opposition to the former regime in Czechoslovakia.
The ICDC brings together politicians and intellectuals. It was created
on Havel's initiative four years ago. Its members include former U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Spanish PM Jose Maria
Aznar and Nobel Literature Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa from Peru.
"Europe should catch up with the United States in its effort at human
rights," Havel said in an allusion to the EU's effort to compete with
the USA mainly in the economy.
He clearly pointed to the EU's years-long disunity on the totalitarian
regime in Cuba.
The Czech Republic and some other post-communist EU member countries are
among the major critics of the Cuban regime and refuse to cooperate with
it while some western countries are more accommodating towards the
regime of Fidel Castro.
"The policy the EU pursues seems to me to be rather cautious," Havel
told journalists.
He said this concerns human rights in other countries as well. He
mentioned Belarus, Burma and north Korea.
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg will speak at the conference
tomorrow.
Author: ČTK
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