Letter of Giorgio Schultze (the European spokesperson for New Humanism) to Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic.

I am writing to you as the Spokesperson for New Humanism in Europe and President of the European Region of the Humanist International to request you to do whatever you can to prevent the ratification of the deal with the USA to locate a radar base on Czech territory.

The reasons for this request are as follows:

1. Following the recent defeat of the ruling coalition in the Senate elections, the current government has only a short window of opportunity available in order to win a vote in the Senate given that the newly elected Senators have not yet taken their seats.  If the vote is not this week it is likely the vote will never be won.  This is an unbelievable manipulation of a system that is not worthy of the name “democracy” and brings shame to a country that fought so hard and lost so many lives in order to achieve it.

2. This deal is against the wishes of the majority of Czechs as has been repeatedly shown in opinion polls.

3. The political situation in the US is changing and it is not certain that a new administration in Washington will go ahead with the Missile Defence System if Prague has not ratified it.

And finally,

4. This whole deal and the ideology of war that lies behind it are immoral, will only lead to further international tension, and the spending of billions of dollars on war that could be much better spent on international social justice – a much more effective use of money in the battle against extremism and terrorism; the supposed justifications for such a system.

It is for these reasons that we implore you to consider not just the needs of the Czech Republic, but the need for peace in Europe at large and the World as a whole.

What is the point of ratifying, now, an agreement that already has minority support in the public, and now a minority support in the Senate and that can only hoped to be achieved through cynical manipulation of the political system?

It is much better to take the position proposed by the majority of Czechs, to wait at least one year and see how the new global political situation is before going ahead with such a dangerous vote.

Yours sincerely,
Giorgio Schultze

The European spokesperson for New Humanism