Czech Presidency in the media
How do the world media report on the Czech EU Presidency? Read the articles we have selected for you.
30.3.2009
SME: The EU supported the Czechs during crisis
The Slovak daily SME summarises the so-called Gymnich meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers at Hluboká nad Vltavou. The article emphasises the general support that the Czech Presidency received at the Gymnich meeting from its partners, including France. The article also mentions two general and very closely related issues addressed during the Gymnich meeting, i.e. the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the continued enlargement of the EU.
The Times: One man’s plan is another man’s poison
“The crisis is of an unprecedented nature and so, accordingly, our discussion must be unprecedented – that debate will not only decide the extent of our co-operation in finding solutions, but also the future shape of the global market,” with these words Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek rounds off an article printed by one of the most prestigious newspapers in the world, The Times.
The current President of the European Council mentions among other things his much mediatised statement that the current American policy is a "road to hell" and puts his hyperbole into context. Mirek Topolánek emphasizes that the USA may need massive fiscal stimuli, but that it is not the right solution for the EU which “… at the spring summit chaired by the Czech Presidency …adopted the €400 billion economic recovery plan, which accounts for 3.3 per cent of the EU's GDP, and agreed to provide a €75 billion loan to the International Monetary Fund to help countries with a shaky balance of payments.” The Czech PM finally points out that, “The key players must be in tune with each other if the global economy is to recover as quickly and with as little damage as possible. If the EU and the US find common ground in spite of our economic and social differences, we will be able to raise our voices to call on other global players to adopt a co-ordinated approach.”
29.3.2009
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Half as bad
The prominent German daily printed an article giving its realistic view of the Czech Presidency and the Lisbon Treaty, which reforms the unpractical processes of the EU much less than it is claimed. The article agrees entirely with Czech PM Mirek Topolánek’s statement on excessive fiscal stimuli and underlines that the EU will go on functioning irrespective of the domestic political situation in the Czech Republic – other Presidencies have survived a fall of government.
27.3.2009
Népszabadság: Sme: The Czech and the Hungarian governments did not fall due to the crisis
The Hungarian daily refers to reflections in the Slovenian newspaper Sme and condemns the irresponsibility of the Czech politicians who brought the government down during the Czech Presidency. It goes on to underline that the economic and financial crisis was not the real reason the government fell, which is of fundamental importance for the reputation of the Czech Republic in economic circles.
Wall Street Journal: Obama should not be afraid of Topolánek’s frank words
“Europe has just offered two answers worth remembering as Mr. Obama visits the Old Continent next week for the first time since taking office,” writes the American economic newspaper The Wall Street Journal Europe in a commentary under the headline, “That’s What Friends Are For”. “Most noticed was the comment Wednesday by Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek that the Obama fiscal stimulus is paving a "road to hell." The commentariat immediately turned on Mr. Topolanek, who as current holder of the rotating EU Presidency is receiving more attention than usual, for imperiling trans-Atlantic relations ahead of next week's G-20 meeting in London and NATO summit in Strasbourg. But can't true allies speak frankly when they have divergent views? All Mr. Topolanek did was present more bluntly the same opinion that leaders from Germany's Angela Merkel to France's Nicolas Sarkozy to European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet have already expressed. With the Obama Administration paying no heed to them and racking up ever more deficit spending, why not speak up more forcefully? Friends don't let friends wreck their economies.”
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