Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (Pirates), who a week ago held talks in the USA with top politicians there, headed for completely different ground on Tuesday. In Náchodsk on the Czech-Polish border, he met students, businessmen and ordinary citizens. The youngest member of the government thereby started a series of trips around the regions.
“I listen to music for computer games, for example. But that’s quite a personal question, you can’t really brag about it, because it’s a shame what I listen to,” admitted Jan Lipavský hesitantly in front of several dozen students of the Náchod grammar school.
He came to explain to them what diplomacy consists of and to debate with them about Czech foreign policy. But he soon found out that he would have to reveal a lot of his private life as well, because that is what the students are very interested in. Maybe just what kind of music he listens to. “It’s different pop stuff to get me in the mood. A little bit of everything,” he added, without naming specific singers or groups.
“What were your grades in high school? Did you enjoy school? What languages do you know? Could you tell us a funny story about politics?” the students continued to ask, and the minister was already answering more specifically than questions about music. The students learned that the current head of diplomacy did not enjoy high school that much, he did not have the best grades, but he was interested in politics and history since childhood.
For example, he described how, when asked by a teacher what he watched at Christmas, he simply replied that he watched the news. “And on top of that I drew a picture of a TV news jingle. It was in the third grade. And I got a high five for it from the teacher because she expected me to draw a picture from a fairy tale,” he recalled.
He also admitted that he tried to find a recipe for success in books. “I liked Steve Jobs, for example, I was interested in what defines him, and I chose his fierceness. I tried to get something out of each person or their story,” he told the Náchod high school students.
Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský debated with students in Náchod. | Video: Radek Bartoníček
Zeman didn’t talk to me, it’s great with Pavel
In addition to lighter questions, the students also asked questions that – as Lipavský noted – were as if from journalists. For example, what can be expected in a situation where Ukraine wins over Russia. “We don’t know how the war will turn out. I believe that Ukraine will win,” Lipavský said, adding that the country’s defense against the aggressor is doing very well so far.
“But whether it wins or even if it falls, Russia somehow parceled it out and if Slovakia were to be adjacent to Russia, it will continue to threaten us. Because what threatens us is not Putin and Russia as such, but the idea of Russian imperialism that threatens us, ” he continued. And he explains what imperialism meant, for example, in the times when there were Soviet soldiers and advisers in Czechoslovakia.
The topic of Ukraine was of interest to students and their teachers, most of the questions were about it. The minister has to answer, for example, whether there are ongoing peace negotiations between the two countries or whether the conflict cannot turn into a global disaster.
“Ukraine tried to negotiate with Russia in the past, but after Russia killed many civilians in Buch, for example, it saw that there was no point in negotiating with Russia,” answered Lipavský. He emphasized that no peace negotiations can take place without the participation of Ukraine. “That would be like in the case of Czechoslovakia and the Munich Agreement,” he recalled in 1938.
Jan Lipavský upon arrival at the gymnasium in Náchod. | Photo: Radek Bartoníček
Students were also interested in his relations with the new president Petr Pavlo. “Our relations are great. I think we have very similar views on the most important topics,” he confided, while also admitting that he was in a much more difficult situation under the previous president, Miloš Zeman, who initially did not want to appoint him as a member of the government and turned around only after a meeting with the prime minister Peter Fiala.
“But he didn’t talk to me at all, except for two official events. It wasn’t a pleasant time,” said Lipavský to Zeman. He added that for a long time he didn’t even know if he was supposed to prepare for the position at the head of diplomacy, when he read in the newspapers for weeks how Zeman was rejecting him.
Thanks for not bending your back to Russia
Although his colleagues informed him that he had to leave for another program, the minister wanted to continue the meeting with the students. “Just keep asking,” he encouraged them, taking as many photos as they needed when he was done. “But only a selfie,” he pointed out with a smile.
Lipavský is a member of the government, which according to polls is even less popular than previous cabinets. For example, according to the latest CVVM survey, most people are dissatisfied with its program, activities, communication and the composition of the cabinet. It fell into unpopularity even under the government of Petr Nečas, which fell ten years ago.
“I try to be in contact with the citizens, because a member of the government is supposed to create an image of what is happening in the Czech Republic. So now I am here and I am going to, for example, Litvínov,” the minister told Aktuálně.cz, who headed to Broumov from Náchod to meeting with local businessmen and later for a discussion with the public.
During the meeting with entrepreneurs, he heard, among other things, how they are trying to develop their region and also what problems they encounter. One of the entrepreneurs drew attention to the fact that people stop shopping and how high inflation worsens people’s social situation. “Couldn’t the fact that we support Ukraine a lot have an effect on inflation?” he asked. Lipavský assured him that this was not the case, because billions of crowns in aid do not play such a significant role in the Czech economy. “Energy prices have a direct influence on inflation,” said the minister. Other businessmen also told him that the economic situation of people in the region is getting worse, and they react to pessimistic reports with further investigations.
But Lipavský also heard words of thanks. “Mr. Minister, I would like to thank you for not bending your back in front of Rusák,” businessman Bohuslav Šolc from the Broumov Forestry Company turned to him.
Video: Interview with Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (March 13, 2023)
Spotlight Aktuálně.cz – Jan Lipavský | Video: Jakub Zuzánek, Aktuálně.cz
