Jan Kavan first visited Belfast in 1971 to speak to students in Queen's University. He had recently left his native Czechoslovakia where his position as a student leader during the Prague Spring had been brought to an end by the Russian invasion of 1968.
Over the next two decades he ran a support network for the underground Czech opposition from a succession of small London flats. But, just as the Prague Spring was part of an international radicalisation which also saw the upsurge of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland, exiled dissidents sought contacts and support from the left in Western Europe.
So, on that trip to Belfast, Kavan was also brought to pubs and homes in west Belfast. "I was here for about a week. I met people from both communities, mainly intellectuals from the Protestant community and civil rights activists from the Catholic community," he recalled last week during a return visit to the city - this time as foreign minister of the Czech Republic.
Much in common
"I was shown some of the houses which were badly damaged following British army raids. I heard so many personal stories about what happened when people were confronted with the British army or attacks from the other community, I could never see the situation in black and white terms.
"I saw then that the Czechs and Irish had a lot in common, starting with the role of pubs as places where you can discuss politics in a social and community way, where humour is an essential way of dealing with problems. If you replaced the Irish with a Czech name in many Irish jokes they would be identical. "Small nations situated near bigger ones, given a similar problematic relationship, respond with gallows humour, songs, poetry etc, using their culture to express their aspirations. I have had great sympathy with and interest in Ireland since that visit."
This interest included a number of visits to both Dublin and Belfast during the 1970s, seeking support for the Czech opposition in often draughty halls or the smokey back rooms of public houses
Addressing the Assembly.
Last week, however, he was speaking to members of the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont and staying in Hillsborough Castle. As foreign minister in the recently-formed minority Social-Democratic government he was accompanying the Czech President, Mr Vaclav Havel, on a visit to Britain and Northern Ireland.
Born to an English mother and Czech diplomat father, Kavan lived in London from 1969 to 1989 when, as the regime collapsed in the Velvet Revolution, he was able to return home safely for the first time. While in England he had been an active member of the Labour Party, so the visit this week in his official capacity was also about renewing links with old friends.
"I've know several of the British ministers for 20 or 30 years. We share similar values. When I was looking for support for the Czech opposition I got more from the Labour Party, than I ever did from the Conservatives. Robin Cook supported the Prague Appeal."
He is a staunch supporter of the accession of the Czech republic to the EU, which he hopes will take place in 2003. "Now all the major countries in the EU have social democratic governments. This brings closer the vision of Europe which is at the heart of our support for the EU. "Unlike the previous government, we don't see it primarily as a free trade area, but as a community of nations who subscribe to the principles of mutual solidarity, building an area of stability and peace. We hope the fact that the majority of those governments subscribe to social democratic values brings closer the day when Europe will be socially just, with policies for full employment, an emphasis on social and environmental issues, support for the poorer regions and more powers to elected bodies."
There is suspicion of the EU within the Czech Republic, based, he says, on inadequate information, and Kavan uses the example of Ireland to show how small nations can fare well within it. "There is apprehension in terms of the destruction of uncompetitive industries and the need to change 80 per cent of our legislation to conform to EU law. Some nationalists are afraid that our newly acquired sovereignty could be compromised.
"I hope we can learn from the way Ireland benefited from membership - so much so that you are now almost the victims of your own success! Greece also got structural funds, but did not do as well, so Ireland must have done something right."
Learning democracy
If the experience of this State is relevant for Czech aspirations towards the EU, that of the North has a more domestic resonance. "We still have a problem of how to combine political with moral and ethical principles. It is relatively easy to defeat an authoritarian regime, it is far more difficult to breathe democratic life into those structures and overcome a confrontational `us and them' mindset. "Nine years after our revolution many people don't yet have the idea in their blood stream that problems can be solved by dialogue. There are prejudices against people with different skin-colour, different cultures, different religion, even different political views.
"I faced this myself. As a leftwing political dissident from abroad, critical of Thatcherism, I was the subject of some of these prejudices, and it created fertile soil for my political opponents to attack me. Fortunately, after several years my name was cleared in court, and the fact that I am now foreign minister shows that these problems can be overcome.
"I think countries which are tackling the issue of reconciliation should talk to each other. I am very interested from that point of view in how the Belfast Agreement will be implemented. I simply hope that it will work despite some of the current obstacles. Its success will be an encouragement to us all."
Today is Czech National Day and the 80th anniversary of independence.