A new front - Czech Republic

mike65

After our spanner comes the Czech Republic who's leadership has been making all the wrong sorts of noises as far as the EU leadership and Sarkosy is concerned.

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=318685

Vondra said it would not be productive if the European leaders tried to exert pressure on anyone over the Lisbon treaty's ratification.

"It is important that every country bears responsibility for the course of the process and its result," Vondra pointed out.

Vondra today also reiterated that the Irish "no" clearly means that the treaty would not take effect by January 2009 when the Czech Republic will take up EU presidency for six months.

Vondra said previously that the Czech government was preparing a scenario for EU presidency without the Lisbon treaty.

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/105204

http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=56338

EU skeptic Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic declared that he was against "Europeism" Monday, the day when French President Nicolas Sarkozi is on an official visit in Prague.

On July 1 France is taking over the rotational chairmanship of the EU.

"We should let people living on the European continent live as Czechs, Poles, Italians, Danes. Let's not turn them into "Europeans". This is a faulty project. The difference between the Czech, the Pole, the Italian, the Dane and the European is the same as the difference between the Czech, Polish, Italian, Danish languages and the Esperanto. Europeism equals Esperanto - an artificial, dead language", stated Klaus in front of newspaper reporters.

The Greens who are part of the government are fully paid up YESers while the majority Civic Democratic Party have a deffo skeptical aspect to them.

Mike.

SkepticOne

A possible angle Cowen could use with them is to remind them that most of the EU put their principles aside and gave the Czech workers the finger when it came to free movement of labour, except for Ireland and a couple of other countries.

is_that_so

The Czech government is a three party compromise. An earlier article highlights the problems facing them.

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/104958

Fate of reforms uncertain as weakened government comes under fire
[10-06-2008 13:33 UTC] By Daniela Lazarová

The heat is on Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek’s centre right government. Half-way though implementing its programme of fiscal reforms it is racked by internal conflict, under fire from the opposition and growing pressure from trade unions. There are now serious doubts as to whether it can meet its set goals.

On Monday more than half of the country’s teachers went on strike in protest against low wages and an estimated two thousand people gathered outside the Office of the Government to voice their dissatisfaction with the government’s reforms. With prices steadily rising, the pressure is unlikely to ease and trade unions are gearing up for a one-hour nation-wide warning strike on June 24th, which is expected to paralyze Prague city transport and cause disruptions around the country. Not an enviable position for the prime minister, whose ability to push through further reforms is now weakened by a number of rebels within each of the governing parties. Yet, as on previous occasions, he appears ready to ride out the storm. Over the weekend he called the rebels’ bluff, telling them he would seek support for a minority government if he could not rely on their votes and he made it clear that he blames the opposition for Monday’s protests.
...

Vondra and Klaus are outspoken Eurosceptics and they could certainly have been expected to have made negative comments had Lisbon been ratified here. They are currently waiting for their Constitutional Court to rule on the Treaty which AFAIK may not be available for some time yet.

As a result it offers them a chance to play on both sides of the argument by maintaining their Euroscepticism while highlighting that they have not not ratified Lisbon.