Czech Presidency in the media
How do the world media report on the Czech EU Presidency? Read the articles we have selected for you.
14.4.2009
Sme: Kohout to save Czech diplomacy
The Slovak daily SME describes the current “dual Government” in the Czech Republic, which has been in place since President Václav Klaus appointed Jan Fischer as the new Prime Minister. The article says that most names of the members of the new Czech Government have already been revealed and that “Czech diplomacy is to be saved by Jan Kohout”.
According to the article, observers are most of all worried about the final months of the Czech Presidency, which, until now, had been doing very well. However, with the fall of the Government in March, things have taken a turn for the worse – a fact confirmed by Petr Kratochvíl from the Institute of International Relations in Prague: “As regards representation, I am afraid that the damage is such as cannot be remedied even by the best diplomat”.
8.4.2009
Le Figaro: Bruno Le Maire: European politics must reach the level of the USA and China
For the first time after the collapse of the Government of Mirek Topolánek, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Bruno Le Maire spoke about the Czech Presidency.
In an interview for Le Figaro he stated that he “expects the Czech Republic to continue its Presidency mandate at its best until the end”. He further emphasised that “the Czech Republic has undertaken to ratify the Lisbon Treaty and it has to stand by its commitment”.
SME: We shot ourselves in the foot
“We shot ourselves in the foot before all of Europe. But I am confident that the Czechs will survive this”, stated Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affair Alexandr Vondra in an extensive interview for the Slovak daily SME. According to him the Czech Presidency has so far been doing extremely well. Vondra is also confident that the Lisbon Treaty will be ratified in the Czech Republic by October, when a second referendum is to be held in Ireland.
7.4.2009
Le Monde: Czech political parties agreed on an interim government and premature election
French daily Le Monde brings information on the internal political development in the Czech Republic. The article appreciates the efforts of the outgoing Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolánek, to speed up the negotiations, so that the Czech crisis does not harm the Czech Presidency. The Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) and the coalition have thus agreed on the future caretaker Prime Minister, Jan Fischer, who would lead the interim government. According to Le Monde, the President of the EU Council still makes provisions to be present at the summit launching the Eastern Partnership, one of the priorities of the Czech Presidency.
SME: Czechs lost their best minister
A short commentary in Slovak daily SME sums up the activities of Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg in the EU and highlights his strengths. The article doubts that the successor of Karel Schwarzenberg would have such qualities, knowledge and contacts, and regrets the fact that the Presidency will lose such a distinctive personality in the forefront of its diplomacy.
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