25 years since inking of act on separation of Czechoslovakia

25 years since inking of act on separation of Czechoslovakia

25 years ago, on November 25, 1992, the Federal Czechoslovak parliament adopted a constitutional law on the separation of Czechoslovakia. It became effective as of January 1, 1993. That was the final act of the division of the country.

According to sociologist Miloslav Bahna, the Slovaks and Czechs divorced at a time when the countries started to resemble one another the most. As he told the TASR press agency, the act was nothing unique at that time since more eastern European countries were divided after the fall of the Socialist totalitarian regime in 1989. Bahna also added that he could hardly imagine that Czechoslovakia would remain one country.

The split of erstwhile Czechoslovakia lacked political legitimacy, as voters had not been granted the chance to voice their opinion in a referendum, German historian Phillip Ther, who also specialises in the history of Central and Eastern Europe post-1989, told TASR.

TASR also pointed to the results of current surveys which indicate that Slovaks are more satisfied with independent state than Czechs and are also more confident than in the past. As the former twice Slovak Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš said for the public broadcaster RTVS, Slovakia has benefited from the division of Czechoslovakia. Former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, who led the talks on the separation of the country added also for RTVS that the story of independent Slovakia was a successful one.

The history of Czechoslovakia goes back to 1918, when it was founded on the ruins of Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then it was forcefully divided from 1938 until 1945 during WWII. The history of the Czechoslovak federation dates back to 1968, when a constitutional act was adopted, changing the centralist country into a federation.


Mojmir Prochazka, Photo: Jingoba/Pixabay.com

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