Forum 2000

“Is a brighter future so distant or is it close, but our blindness prevents us from seeing it around and within us,” said Vaclav Havel 35 years ago in 1978, and today we are faced with the same situation. Quoting Havel, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić opened the first day of the Forum 2000 conference titled “Media and Democracy”

“Nevertheless,” Pusić said, “today it is a lot easier to speak, live and act than it was when Havel wrote those words, but there is more talk about economy and less political visions. A lot has been started that has not been finished.”

In her address, Pusić recalled that the key themes of the 2004 enlargement were human rights and individual freedom, while today it is economy. The key persons eight years ago were Havel, Geremek and Michnik, while today it is Mario Draghi.

“Today we are faced with the fact that politics are disappearing, there is no talk about what kind of society we have become, what we want. We see no solutions in front of us as we are focused solely on the economic crisis,” Pusić said.

She commented on the document about greater integration developed by the European Union's top officials. “The European idea is still alive because it was also envisioned by people like Havel. What good is a state if there is no individual freedom in it,” Pusić asked, adding that it was precisely Havel who had always reminded us that we could be better than we were, that we could lead instead of follow. “Therefore, in remembrance of him, our goal should be a better society,” Pusić wrapped up.

In answering the questions, Pusić said that the EU deserved a Nobel Prize as it still was the most prosperous area. She remarked that the enlargement policy was once a “success story”, while today it was being talked about as a problem.

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