Opinion> Hillary Clinton> Talking It Over 1996 07 02

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Talking It Over

For as long as I can remember, I've spent the Fourth of July celebrating our nation's independence the way most Americans do: by having a picnic, going to a parade, waving sparklers and watching fireworks.

This year, though, I'm not in the United States for the Independence Day holiday. I'm in Central Europe, and it may be the next best place to be.

Not only is the region the homeland of millions of Americans, it is a place where American ideals of democracy and freedom are alive and flourishing.

This week, I'm traveling to seven countries in Central Europe and the Baltics. I've already had the chance to take a message of hope and solidarity from America to people who only recently freed themselves from the tyranny of communism.

Whether they are Romanians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians or Estonians, they are looking to America and Europe for support as they emerge from decades of darkness to build free societies that respect human rights, a free press and the rule of law.

Everywhere I have been so far, I've seen signs of the remarkable progress the people of Central Europe are making, often against great odds. In many cases, they are succeeding because of America's help.

In Romania, I met with men and women working in both government and non-governmental organizations to improve health care, education and civic life and promote ethnic tolerance in a country that suffered under one of the cruelest dictatorships Europe has ever known. These efforts are critical to improving conditions for the Romanian people and to strengthening the foundation of a democratic society. I visited a pediatric AIDS clinic and a primary school in Bucharest that the United States is supporting through public and private sources.

In Poland, where I went next, I couldn't help but be impressed by the enormous transformation the country has made politically and economically. Seven years ago, few thought Poland could ever overcome its tragic past. Today, thanks in part to U.S. assistance, it is one of the most vibrant nations of Europe, well on its way to rejoining the democratic family of the West.

While in the ancient city of Krakow, the home of Pope John Paul II, I met with Polish editor Jerzy Turowicz and Nobel-prize-winning poet Czeslaw Milosz, two intellectual leaders of the democracy movement.

Through their writings and publications, these courageous men helped ensure that the ideas and values of freedom stayed alive during the communist era.

I also visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, two of history's most terrible examples of the consequences of intolerance and anti-Semitism. These two places should stand in our memory as a warning of what can happen to any society when human rights, compassion and justice are overcome by ethnic, religious and racial hatred. I also met with Poland's Jewish community, whose young people and families — some only recently learning of their heritage — have given new life to the Jewish culture there.

From Poland, I traveled to the Czech Republic, another inspiring story of democracy's triumph in Central Europe. And I was honored to deliver a speech on July Fourth from the new headquarters of Radio Free Europe in Prague.

The building used to be home to the rubber-stamp Parliament of Czechoslovakia's old communist regime. Now, several hundred independent journalists work there. Where ideas were once suppressed, now, they are conveyed to 25 million listeners in the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe.

For 40 years during the Cold War, Radio Free Europe provided an education in democracy for many dissidents — including Czech President Vaclav Havel, who fought for freedom behind the Iron Curtain. Even so, there was some question about whether the broadcasts were still needed once the Cold War was over.

Havel believed they were critical to helping the new democracies of Europe get off the ground. The president agreed, and so did Congress. The result was that in 1995, Radio Free Europe moved from Munich to Prague. Today, it broadcasts 700 hours of programming a week in 23 languages. Equally important, Radio Free Europe is training journalists in countries that have no experience of a free press.

From Prague, my travels take me to Slovakia, Hungary and Estonia. And I know that by the time I return home to the United States, I'll have an even greater appreciation of the hope, encouragement and example that American democracy offers to lovers of freedom around the world.

Happy birthday, America!