RFE/RL: How do you explain your consistent support for Belarusian democrats?
Vaclav Havel: I sympathize, but I am not alone. It is an element of the Czech Republic's current official policy to sympathize with anyone who is striving for more liberal, more democratic conditions, with those who want to change an authoritative system because we have our own experience to draw on and because we feel a heightened responsibility to show solidarity with those who are striving after roughly what we ourselves sought after.
RFE/RL: The KGB today arrested several young people in Belarus. On TV it was also announced that an opposition conspiracy against the regime and against Belarus had been uncovered. You have rich experience as a dissident. What would your advice to Belarusian dissidents be? What can be done about the secret police in general? How can one deal with them? And is it possible to do something against it?
Havel: To be yourself and, simply, to retain a sense of detachment and take the high ground, and to take it all with a bit of humor. I recall our dissident days as days of relative happiness. There was a sense of solidarity between us, we stuck together, and at the same time we didn’t take ourselves too seriously. We weren’t obsessed with anything. It is true that everyone tends to remember the good rather than the bad. Still, a measure of distance, a sense of the bigger picture, and also persistence, that's what is most important.
RFE/RL: Russia, is currently the only country in Europe that openly supports the regime of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. What do you think about that? What can the Western governments, Western countries do to counter that? Or how can the topic be addressed with Russia?
Havel: I think they should say openly what they think and not shut their eyes. And conceal nothing. After all, it should be the case that partners and friends are frank with each other and can say what they think.