MASSIVE RESISTANCE IN PRAGUE TO SUDETEN GERMAN "EMBASSY"

NOTE (Rodney Atkinson): The Sudeten German League, once rightly regarded as a neo-Nazi bunch of extremists has in recent years had the support of both the Bavarian State and the Social Democrat Government in Berlin. Leading ministers like Joschka Fischer have attended their congress and German Government money has been donated to them.

Date of report 8 April 2003
Translated 11 April 2003

PRAGUE - The so-called "embassy" opened in Prague by the Sudeten German League has run into massive resistance. The Czech Ministry of the Interior will refuse diplomatic rights and a Member of Parliament foresees mass demonstrations against the demands of the German "expellees".

The Czech Minister of the Interior explained a few days after the opening of the Sudeten German bureau that the applicants had circumvented the basic requirements of Czech law. The Interior Ministry would not therefore provide the necessary permission.

MASS DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE "SUDETEN GERMANS"

The Social Democrat Member of Parliament Robert Kopecky comes from Northern Bohemia, a district on which the Sudeten Germans have made demands. He announced that this year's anniversary of liberation from the Nazi regime would be the occasion of mass demonstrations against the very real provocations of the Sudeten Germans.

BERLIN: "THEY CAN DO WHAT THEY LIKE"

Berlin gives the Sudeten German League a free hand. "They are a non-governmental organisation" explained the spokeswoman for the German embassy in Prague. "They can do what they like". For years Sudeten German organisations have been fostered by state funding. The government of Bavaria ("Freistaat Bayern") became the "godfather" of Sudeten Germans in 1954. The German embassy in Prague dignified the opening festivities of the Sudeten German Bureau by the attendace of an official delegation.

Thus Berlin follows the provocative game plan of the "expellees'" officials. Bernd Posselt, Chairman of the Sudeten German League, has already suggested for several years that territorial districts of the Czech Republic should be placed directly or indirectly under German sovereignty.

Notes (Previous articles)
1. "Sudeten Germans" open "Embassy"
2. European Parliament. German "expellees'" official supervises Czech Republic's EU accession.

SOURCES

Sudeten Office in Prague improper - Klaus CTK 27/3/03
Interior Ministry refuses to register Sudeten german Groups CTK 28/3/03
Sudeten Office sparks Controversy. The Prague Post 2/4/03