Final Word from Thursday, February 23, 2023

Interior Min. Vít Rakušan has never used the word "irredentism" in public, but he nevertheless defined it fairly precisely in Právo today with regard to Czech efforts to annex part of the population of a neighboring country: "I'll say something the Ukrainian side won't be entirely happy to hear. If about 100,000 people remained here, it could have a positive long-term economic impact on socioeconomic indicators, such as the pension system." The key irredentism policy of the government of Petr Fiala was to require young Ukrainian children to attend Czech schools, instead of making it possible for those who planned to return home after the war to attend makeshift Ukrainian-language schools with Ukrainian teachers. The result is that almost all schoolchildren, Czech and Ukrainian, are suffering, esp. the average and below-average ones. If Czech irredentism is designed to produce uneducated, low-paid workers for foreign-owned Czech assembly plants, it's a success. Otherwise, it's a big failure. [ Czech Republic STAN minister annexation make-shift temporary schooling education ]