Denemarková in Frankfurt: speech on Europe and clash with Klempíř

Czech writer Radka Denemarková spoke at the opening of the 78th Frankfurt Book Fair, where Czechia is this year's guest of honour, and declared that Europe is “turning brown”. The speech drew ovations and criticism from Culture Minister Oto Klempíř; the writer herself says she is “only getting started”.

The speech was delivered on Tuesday. Denemarková warned of growing authoritarian and fascist tendencies in Europe and criticised the fact that the Czech government includes “two former collaborators of the communist State Security”. She also said: “Culture ministers who destroy culture come and go, but literature remains.”

Reaction to the speech

In the podcast “Ptám se já”, the writer said she had not expected such a response: by her account, she merely repeated what she has been saying for many years. Reactions came from Austria, where people fear the FPÖ party, from Germany, France, Mexico, Colombia, Taiwan and from Chinese colleagues in exile. According to her, the fair's director said that the audience had never before given a standing ovation at the venue. There were also insults and threats, but, she added, she “knows how to handle that”.

Culture Minister Oto Klempíř, who admitted several years ago to contacts with the secret police StB, also spoke at the fair. His speech was interrupted several times by shouts and whistling from the audience. He later sharply responded to the writer: he wondered how many of her books the Bolsheviks had banned and how many times she had been in pre-trial detention. He also reminded her that large sums are spent on supporting authors and publishers.

Denemarková retorted that the minister knows nothing about her: she spent two years in China and is banned there. State support for culture, she said, does not mean a “muzzle” for authors. “Culture is independent and free. I do not need him, he needs me,” she said.

Concern for Europe and Czechia

The writer explains the rise of radical forces by a loss of trust in information because of social media and artificial intelligence, and by simple promises of a “strong hand”. She called the situation in Czechia “more dangerous than under Orbán in Hungary”, because changes are happening gradually and covertly: from pressure on public media to the weakening of the rule of law. The writer sees the prime minister and the ANO movement as the main problem, and says she is ready to speak at possible protests.

She does not consider her speech brave, and the fact that it is called so is, in her words, “sad news about this world”. Asked whether the Frankfurt address was the peak of her career, she replied: “I am only getting started. It is bad news for all the Klempířs of the world.”

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz