"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil," Edmund
Burke observed, "is for good men to do nothing." While what has
happened in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is hardly evil; communism was the evil; the fact is that good men have done
very little to nourish the seeds of Western values in the freed nations
of Eastern Europe.
At a recent gathering of several hundred pro-democracy ministers and MPs
from western and central European nations in Prague, Czech Republic President
Vaclev Havel put it more bluntly: "Six years have passed since the
fall of the Iron Curtain. It seems to me that little has happened during
those six years and time is working against the Democrats. Against those
who want peace and peaceful cooperation. Unless Democrats proceed with greater
vigor to build the European order, others will start to do so and we know
who the 'others' are.The story of the former Yugoslavia should be a clear
warning for Europe and for the whole world as to what can happen if there
is too much hesitation."
The Congress of Prague, as the meeting was called, stressed the urgency
of bringing Eastern European nations into the western alliance. Its mission
was "to reunite the family of western civilization, and so to ensure
its future." Lest this seem too pessimistic, consider that for 50 years,
from 1939 to 1989, Central Europe was the battleground of our century's
epic battle of freedom against tyranny. With the flush of the victory of
the west over communism, all seemed possible, and the integration of Russia's
former satellites into the European community and its commerce seemed probable.
But it has not come to pass. Instead, "Market reforms in the former
communist countries are being slowed down or reversed. Post-communists now
govern in all the former satellites except the Czech Republic. A former
communist has replaced Lech Walesa as president of Poland. The communists
won 45 percent of the Russian Duma in the recent elections. And Central
Europe has seen its membership of both NATO and the EU postponed."
So what to do? First, the economic base of western Europe must be expanded
eastward. The current strategy of European Union (EU) advocates; principally
the French and Germans; is flawed. A single, common-currency, Brussels-regulated
European monolith, hard to join and with limited economic growth potential
once admitted (the EU annual growth targets are the same anemic 2.5% as
the U.S. Federal Reserve's), offers less hope for the future than a tariff-free
trading group with harmonized procedures. All the former European Soviet
satellites should quickly become a part of such a group.
Second, NATO must be expanded eastward as well. The Czech Republic and Hungary
should be admitted now; Poland and the Baltic nations should follow. The
Russians, of course, are opposed, and have been saber-rattling against it
("Moscow plans pact with Belorussia if NATO expands" - May 15,
1996). But as the London Times editorialized on May 14th, "The case
for enlargement is one of principle: that independent nations have the right
to choose their own foreign and defense policies and allies." Especially
independent nations once enslaved by the very nation now objecting to their
increased freedoms. Or in President Havel's words, we cannot allow "someone
else [to] decide which countries should be allowed to join the Alliance
and which should not."
Third, the United States and the newly enlarged memberships of the EU must
move promptly to increase trade across the Atlantic. A Trans-Atlantic Free
Trade Agreement (TAFTA) must be put on the agenda of the World Trading Organization.
If it does not receive favorable attention, the EU and NAFTA should begin
direct discussions to further liberalize trade agreements.
For seven years there has been a window of opportunity to bring stability
to an area of the world that has spawned a century of wars. But it is closing
rapidly; in fact, there is a chance that it may be slammed shut by the June
elections in Russia. The fears of central European nations of instability
to the East are not groundless.
Lady Thatcher's address to the Congress of Prague provided a practical program:
"to merge the North American Free Trade Area with the European community,
including the countries of Central and perhaps in time Eastern Europe."
And a corresponding vision: "We in the West won a great victory in
the Cold War. Let us not now forget why we fought. The mission of this Congress
is to recapture that sense of purpose and clothe it with practical action."
There is an opportunity to bring the victims of this century the opportunities
of the next one. It must be seized before it slips away.
The National Center for Policy Analysis is a public policy research institute
founded in 1983 and internationally known for its studies on public policy
issues. The NCPA is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an office in Washington,
D.C.