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'Politicians come and go. Literature remains,' the 73-year-old Vaclav Havel said at the US premiere of Leaving, in Philadelphia in 2010. These words should give us some courage between now and 20 January

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Entrenched in the state villa

The story starts in the orchard of a magnificent villa, in an unnamed country somewhere in Europe.

Vilem Rieger, a man in his 60s who was the country's chancellor until very recently, is interviewed by two journalists.

While they talk, a servant puts lemonade on the table and some glasses of beer, in which he sprinkles cinnamon powder. An office clerk, meanwhile, is sorting out which things belong to the state and which to Rieger himself. He walks past with a phone in each hand....

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. This article has been adapted from one of her columns in NRC.

'Politicians come and go. Literature remains,' the 73-year-old Vaclav Havel said at the US premiere of Leaving, in Philadelphia in 2010. These words should give us some courage between now and 20 January

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Author Bio

Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. This article has been adapted from one of her columns in NRC.

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