Czech Havel regrets post-communist reform left incomplete

• Former Czech President Vaclav Havel regrets the ex-communist states' failure to complete the revolution of 1989 by reforming post-communism or eliminating the domination of former communists in positions of economic power, he says in an interview for Britain's Financial Times out today

July 6.- [Former Pres. Havel explains] that the fight continues with popular revolts' victories in Ukraine and Georgia, and more sedate gains in Central Europe.

"As the young generation grows up, society needs to rid itself of the power of the people deformed by communism, people who had succeeded in quickly establishing themselves in the new regimes and in occupying various powerful positions," the daily quotes Havel as saying.
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Havel does not hide his disappointment at ex-communist societies following the west in embracing globalisation and rampant consumerism, the interviewer, Stefan Wagstyl, writes.

"It is a two-faced trend: on the one hand it brings people thousands of advantages and joys and pleasures; on the other, it is endangering the human race," he quotes Havel as saying.
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In reaction to Wagstyl's objection that at least in post-communist Central Europe the world is incomparably better than 50 years ago, Havel admits that it is good that the Iron Curtain has fallen and that Communism has ended.

"But that still doesn't mean that the world is a better place," he points out.

"The big differences between the developed world and the developing world are deeper than ever. The unifying forces of globalisation incite various forms of chauvinism or nationalism. Terrorists almost have the capacity to fire nuclear missiles. The world is full of various dangers, including ecological ones in the form of climate change, and so on," Havel says ...

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