Re: The true voice of Slovakia, Letter to the Editor, March 22 - 28, Vol 10, No 11
It is simple-minded in the extreme to suppose that the reason every democratic foreign government criticised the [Vladimír] Mečiar regime - and still makes it clear they could not abide his presence in the new Europe - is because they wanted to steal Slovakia's minimal economic holdings.
More likely is that they saw him for what he was, a petty demagogue and thief. It also seems unnoticed by the writer of this letter that every Slovak holding handed over to a Mečiar crony was bled dry for personal gain, and the only reason those companies exist at all today, giving gainful employment to thousands of Slovaks, is because they were acquired by qualified, experienced, financially-solvent managers who understood the basic business principle that the success of those companies would also be their success.
If the Mečiar regime still ruled Slovakia, Slovaks would not be on their way into the greater European community in a few months, along with Poles, Czechs, Slovenes, Hungarians, etc. but would instead certainly still be waiting on the sidelines with the Croats and Serbs.
The kind of person who can hold such ridiculous ideas is not likely to be interested in the opinion of a foreigner like myself, or any other, which thankfully doesn't matter to the progressing future of Slovakia.
Don Merritt,
Berlin, Germany
