In “covid” conversations, they allegedly chatted about their families, but they also discussed Vladimir Putin. In an interview with Seznam Zprávy, Žantovský remembers the former American Secretary of State as a great Czech, an American woman and a woman.
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“After November 1989, she was one of the first high-ranking politicians to come here not only to watch and admire, but also to help: Havel build a presidential office or the electoral law before the first free elections in 1990,” recalls Žantovský.
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When was the last time you talked?
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At the time of the covid, we had a ritual together that we called each other every Sunday. So I last spoke to her more than 14 days ago. I called her the last two Sundays, too. So I had a feeling something was wrong. She was extremely regular in this.
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What did you say in your covid conversations?
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We talked about everything. We’ve known each other for a really long time, we’ve spent time together outside our professional lives, so we talked about families, children and grandchildren, but of course also about politics, Biden, Zeman, all our various acquaintances. We also remembered what we had experienced with Václav Havel and how great it was at the beginning in the 90’s. We chatted, we didn’t have a given agenda.
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So you probably managed to discuss Russia’s war aggression in Ukraine. How did she look at the situation?
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It hit her hard and hurt her. She herself felt that she had earned some better world after the end of the Cold War. And this is something that went in the opposite direction. Today I can say that, she knew Putin personally and Sergei Lavrov even more and very deeply, and she expected only the worst from them.
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What has her life been like in recent years? Has the democratic administration still consulted them on these issues, given its knowledge of the region and its origins?
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She has been very isolated in recent years. Which was probably related to the disease, which she didn’t talk about at all. She had some contact with her co-workers, but she was not directly involved in current events.
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Who is losing the world in Mrs. Albright’s personality?
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I haven’t thought about it yet. I can only think of superlatives. It was a great Czech that never forgot that it was Czech. She was a great American who had achieved the highest political position in American history as a woman. She was a large woman who consciously addressed women’s issues and women’s equality.
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Her quote that hell is a special place for those women who do not help other women, generations of active women have written in their hearts.
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They even blamed her once. But I must also say: She was a very good and faithful friend. God bless her.
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How would you describe its contribution to Czech democracy?
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I have been in contact with her since 1988 or 1989. Even before she visited here in the 1970s, she was in contact with Jiří Dienstbier, whom she already knew from Washington, and some other dissidents. After November 1989, she was one of the first high-ranking politicians to come here not only to watch and admire, but also to help: Havel build a presidency or even the electoral law before the first free elections in 1990. So she helped very specifically. When she arrived, we went to Vikárka, which was a pub in the Castle, where we drew various spiders and discussed various legislative precedents.
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When you talk about it, what were your favorite places in Prague?
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She was very patient with the unhealthy Czech food that her mother cooked for her. So we used to go to the Blue Duck, she liked the duck with cabbage and dumplings. She liked the Hradčany part of Prague not only because of Havel, but because she was born on Hradčanské náměstí and lived there for the first few years. Madeleine loved Prague.
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Today, in the context of the war in Ukraine, we appreciate being members of NATO. Can you say it’s her fault that she made it a little bit?
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It is certainly her contribution, even though she was an ambassador to the UN in the first Clinton administration and did not intervene directly in these matters. And she also had to be a little careful. When Havel came to Washington once, Clinton made a little fun of him and said: You are the only country that has two ambassadors in Washington. But the benefits were deeper and longer lasting. Her whole family has a story of complete identity with the Czech democracy and the struggle for it. She did it not only because of Czechoslovakia and us, but because of democracy in Europe and around the world. And so we will remember her.
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