“So many people tend to not really believe it, but I think they don’t even think about it, they don’t remember. “Many people don’t even remember this historic chapter and many people were told during the Soviet times that nothing was happening, nothing bad in the sense of the whole invasion, and the reason was obvious – that they had to save the people of the Czechoslovak Republic from the evil West. For the Russians it’s different, for obvious reasons. “Then for Czechs I would say the distinctive moment is August 1968. I always experienced a positive reaction in the sense that, you are our Slavic brothers and we all are one Slavic family, so to speak. Many people see the Czech Republic positively. Kremlin, Moscow | Photo: Julie Mineeva, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 1.0“There are interesting people and interesting stories to be reported and one can’t forget that and has to go regularly.”īy the way, this is maybe a side issue, but how do Russians in general view the Czech Republic now? Do they see still it as part of their near abroad, part of their sphere of influence?

“But yes, we – I think I could say ‘we’, meaning myself and all my other colleagues in Moscow – knew that Moscow was not Russia and that things are happening in the regions. So you have to keep an eye on what is happening there. “In the first place, there is a lot of stuff going on in Moscow and every single time you go off to the regions you’re facing the danger that something might happen in Moscow. Because I was alone there – I didn’t have a producer or anyone who would help me.

“Yes, I tried to travel as much as I could, but it was a little bit difficult sometimes to organise travels. Given the size of Russia, which is the world’s biggest country, was it possible for you in your five years there to report much from outside Moscow? “It used to be like that for example in the Caucasus in the south of Russia you had to have special permits, especially for Chechnya, but that has been cancelled. There are for example border regions for which you had to have special permits. For example, you cannot enter every single region.

“But, yes, there are several restrictions which are applied to foreign journalists. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t say… I never experienced anything like someone telling me what I should write about or whom I should interview. So in theory – and I have no idea if it happens, because there is no official confirmation – that could be an option as to how to restrict someone from even entering the country as a journalist, to have the permission to stay there, to multiply come and go from the country. You have to apply for it and you have to wait for the result. Lenka Kabrhelová, photo: Šárka Ševčíková“You have to get a visa.

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