Heads up – Embassy 21 – December 2009

Man in the middle

Michael Zantovsky is something of an adrenalin junkie. Whether as a revolutionary,  a diplomat or a politician, the new Czech Ambassador to London always manages to find himself in the thick of the action.

Speaking to Embassy shortly after the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the Ambassador casts his mind back to the heady days of November 1989, when, as a founding member of the Civic Forum, he helped orchestrate the overthrow of Czechoslovakia's communist dictatorship.

"I've always been a bit of a mischief-maker," smiles Zantovsky. A translator, journalist and contributor to the underground samizdat press during the communist era, the Ambassador often attracted the unwelcome attentions of the security police.

His media contacts also made him the ideal spokesperson for the Civic Forum and later as President Vaclav Havel's press secretary and spokesman as well as political director of the President's office.

Zantovsky remembers the euphoric, somewhat chaotic first days of government, when they, as a band of dissidents, emerged blinking as leaders of a free Czechoslovakia, courted by rock stars and world statesmen alike: "But then we discovered that it's much more fun overthrowing a government than it is to govern!" he jokes. "Eventually we had to adapt and buy ourselves a few suits and ties and cut our hair. Things improved but it was a very steep learning curve."

In 1992 he entered the world of diplomacy when he was posted to Washington, just before the Velvet Divorce - and turned out to be Prague's last Czechoslovak Ambassador to the United States and its first Czech Ambassador.

Euro-Atlantic integration dominated the Ambassador's agenda in Washington, an area he continued to focus on when he re-entered politics in 1996 as a Czech senator and was elected Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security.

 During his term of office (1996-2002) the Czech Republic joined Nato - and eight days later the alliance declared war on Belgrade. "Sending troops is always difficult because in our country the parliament has strict oversight of the deployment of Czech armed forces," says the Ambassador. But they managed and the Czech Republic today remains a steadfast contributor to the alliance, with its troops now serving in Afghanistan.

Ready for another adrenalin fix, Zantovksy returned to foreign service in 2002 and was soon appointed Ambassador to Israel. During his eventful tour, he witnessed the second Palestinian intifada, the war in Lebanon and Israel's controversial operations in Gaza, which coincided with the Czech Presidency of the EU.

"Most of our presidency was in the aftermath of the Gaza operation when the EU was hard-pressed to find a position vis a vis the Israeli government, Hamas and the Palestinian authorities. The Israelis accused the EU of being too pro-Palestinian; the Arabs claimed we were ineffective – and we were right in the middle of that."

The situation in the Middle East is complex enough without having to find a common position for 27 nations, so the Ambassador is hopeful the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty is a step in the right direction. "It's the phone number for Europe that Henry Kissinger was always calling for," he says, adding that he favours "credibility" over "visibility" as far as the choices for High Representative and President are concerned.

But he adds a note of caution: "For foreign policy to be genuinely coherent and effective, you need not just a commonality of institutions but a commonality of interests. But in the EU there are differences in some important areas: Iran; the recognition of Kosovo; our policy towards countries like Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Belarus. So while we have one telephone number, there are a number of different views."

And the Czech Republic, politically and geographically, finds itself in the centre of Europe – with interests in the Balkans, Europe's eastern dimension and the all-important Atlantic relationship. "It's the same distance from Prague to Moscow as it is to Dublin, so this informs our world view."

Now in London – a great diplomatic and cultural hub – Ambassador Zantovsky plans to take full advantage of its offerings. (He recently held a dinner for John Le Carré, whose spy novels he had longed to translate but were out of bounds in communist Czechoslovakia.)

On the bilateral front, he plans to focus on boosting bilateral trade and cultural ties. The two countries frequently occupy the same ground politically within the EU, they share a millennium's worth of history and the two peoples have a great affection for each other – a relationship deepened by the many young Czechs studying and working in the UK.

"With a Czech population of about 50,000, London today may be the 20th largest Czech city," he remarks. "So I feel almost like the Mayor of a decent-sized city!"

Vaclav Havel once joked that the Czech Republic aspired to become "just another boring European country." The Ambassador hopes the small country that captured the imagination of the world 20 years ago achieved a little more than that. Besides, the Czechs – and Michael Zantovsky in particular - just cannot do dull.