Albright Gets Egged
Shouting "death to American imperialism," two men hurled eggs Monday at Secretary of State Madeleine Albright after she told a university audience that defense of common values sometimes requires countries to pay a financial price.
After finishing a speech to an enthusiastic audience at Tomas Masaryk University in this industrial city 125 miles southeast of Prague, Albright was milling about in the crowded entrance hall as bystanders cheered.
Suddenly, two men shouted "death to American imperialism" and began hurling eggs. Witnesses said some of the egg spattered on Albright, who was rushed upstairs, where she changed clothes for another appearance.
Police Capt. Zdenek Lubas said several people were detained for questioning but declined to give further details.
The incident marred an otherwise warm reception here on the second day of Albright's four-day visit to the land of her birth.
Before the speech, she met privately with about a dozen students from the Gypsy minority to discuss affirmative action and other ideas for improving their conditions. She also received a gold medal Wednesday from the university named after a Czech president who was born near here 100 years ago.
During her speech, Albright referred to a pledge by Czech President Vaclav Havel to cancel a $30 million sale of cooling duct parts by a Czech company to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Although Iran insist the plant is for peaceful production of electricity, the United States fears the Iranians are trying to develop a nuclear weapons program.
Noting that this former Soviet Bloc state joined NATO last year, Albright said preventing the spread of nuclear weapons was a high priority of the Western alliance.
As with any goal worth achieving, it is not without cost," Albright said, speaking in English. "To keep the best technology from falling into the wrong hands, American firms are required to forgo many potentially profitable contracts. But a similar responsibility rests upon the shoulders of all who pledged to defend the best interests of the Euro-Atlantic community."
Albright said Washington has urged all its allies to "meet that responsibility so that our common security is protected and the future safer for our children and theirs."
Later, Albright is to join Havel for a visit to the nearby town of Hodonin, where Masaryk was born. Masaryk led Czechoslovakia from 1918 until 1935 and was also a close friend of President Woodrow Wilson.
Albright has urged Czechs to follow the example of Masaryk, a towering figure in Eastern European democratic history. She has said they should pursue his goals here and throughout the region, including Yugoslavia.
Using that theme, U.S. officials said Albright has urged the Czechs to undertake judicial reform and encourage tolerance for the country's Gypsy, or Roma, minority.
"Masaryk's dream was to have Eurpe whole and free," Albright said Sunday at a joint news conference with Havel in Prague Castle. She quoted Masaryk as saying democracy was not an act but a "pursuit" that must be continually developed.
She has also encouraged the Czech Republic to become more involved in Western moves to bring democracy to Yugoslavia's main republic, Serbia, and to help promote ethnic stability in Kosovo, a province of Serbia.
After visiting Masaryk's shrine, Albright was to return Monday to Prague, where she was scheduled to hold a roundtable discussion with Eastern European non-governmental organizations to discuss ways of promoting democratization in Serbia.
Albright's father, Josef Korbel, a Czech diplomat, fled with his wife and children to London as Germany took control of Czechoslovakia at the onset of World War II. When the communists took over Czechoslovakia in 1948, the family then migrated to the United States.
After the fall of communism here, the Czech and Slovak republics split into two countries in 1993.
By Nadia Rybarova
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