NATO radar at the Peace Monument?

2006/12/06 Team Austerlitz Austerlitz.org | EN » News
The Ministry of Defence has the building permit to construct the 3D radar near the Peace Monument and it is going to create a brand new dominant object on the Austerlitz battlefield unwanted by the local people if the process would not be overruled by administrative lawsuits. The radar in this location is neither wanted by military history enthusiasts from all over the world. However, neither the Ministry nor the army are interested in these opinions. We do not wish to be identified as those who refuse NATO defence structures in the country. On the contrary we are very well aware – as far as people can be informed from the media – of their importance. We just point out the impropriety of the construction location choice.

Who is responsible for all this? The construction could have been avoided if…

    • the Governor of the Southern Moravian Region (SMR) who was informed about everything from the very beginning would be able to fight – unlike the region’s citizens – for the preserved hereditary area of the Austerlitz battlefield. A simple boasting with this phenomenon is just not enough.

 

    • the director of the Department of Culture of the SMR Mr. Drobny would respect the statement of the Monument Preservation Office in Brno which qualified the construction as impermissible. This hasn’t happened and Mr. Drobny would probably enter the history as his statement was completely different. He is still in his office.

 

    • the Ministry of Defence and the Army would have to prove that the construction on the locality expropriated by communists (and overtaken by the Ministry after the “Velvet revolution”) is in the “interest of the state’s defence”. Unfortunately they do not have to do so in any way and it’s enough if they put this formula in the documentation. They are not even obliged to provide the environmental audit, so-called EIA for the construction. And there is more to say. If the facility should really be constructed in the “interest of the state’s defence” then it should be located so that it would provide the most efficient operation. However, this is not the case. The spot height selected for the radar is in comparison with many other and more suitable locations more than 100 m lower. The higher the radar would be located the better performance it would deliver. This is not a laic opinion but the statement of independent experts.

 

    • the Ministry of Defence would be able to maintain the dialogue with concerned citizens. The level of arrogance and ignorance they show is unbelievable.

 

Due to the passive attitude of the SMR Governor and “active” attitude of the above mentioned official whose decision had overruled everything, Building Offices had not many chances how to prevent the construction. Neither are they obliged to do so by law. To find Building Offices fault with it would be improper.

We all, i.e. communities, re-enactors and many other did everything we could. Unfortunately there are not too many possibilities in the country where the army can do anything without reasoning. And if we would not be backed up even by our Governor we do not see any chance how to reverse the situation. The decision has been done by the “unenlightened” official, to put it mildly who simply could do that. Why he hasn’t consulted opinions of experts, local people and others knows only him himself.

I wasn’t our intention to blockade the construction of the defensive facility in Czechia. We only wanted them, and we still do, to find the better place where it is going to be more efficient and not disrupting the Austerlitz battlefield landscape and the piety character of the place visited by people from all over the world to honour the dead. It was the reason for the origin of the Proclamation of Austerlitz and petitions signed by local people. Hopefully there is still a chance of stopping the construction. Everything is now in hands of the administrative court. We firmly believe that it will consult the voice of the people of the region whose 20 communities and towns have said their NO to the radar. I would like to thank all of them for their support.

Last year we have shown the world where is Austerlitz, that it is here, in Czechia. Now, I’m afraid we are about to show it our narrow-mindedness and disrespect to our history. In 1805, Napoleon won at Austerlitz, in 2006 it is an official… The nonsense annex of the Peace Monument museum is certainly not going to make it look better.