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Svoboda, Cyril
2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Cyril Svoboda on the Czechs as the EU's grumblers
During a visit from his Russian colleague Dmitry Medvedev in Prague on Thursday, Czech President Václav Klaus proposed a massive intensification of relations between the two countries. Against the backdrop of the Czech Republic's hesitant attitude to the EU summit's pact for greater budget discipline, the former Czech foreign minister Cyril Svoboda worries about Klaus' intentions in the liberal daily Mladá fronta Dnes: "In 1943 the Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš wanted the republic that emerged after World War II to act as a bridge between East and West. That didn't turn out well for us, and we became part of the Eastern Bloc. Even today we don't need such a bridge. Currently we're outside the European mainstream. But that's not how things were in the past. Back then we acted differently and had a hand in shaping European policy. Today we're grumblers. Things can still change. The states that want to strengthen the European Union are acting responsibly, but even though they face a complicated and demanding task: solving it will prove well worthwhile."
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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » History, » Czech Republic, » Russia, » Europe
Eastern Europe's influence on the EU
"At first glance, not much appears to have changed in the two years of our EU membership," writes Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda in a guest commentary. "The Czechs haven't suddenly got rich, nor have they emigrated to the West in great droves. Companies have not gone bankrupt under the pressure of competition, and the currency remains stable. The changes have been evolutionary, not revolutionary. But the accession of Eastern European countries has certainly brought fresh impetus to the EU... We have managed to convince other members of the need to adopt an uncompromising policy towards totalitarian regimes like those of Cuba or Belarus. The new member states' experiences with totalitarian dictatorship make it easier for them to understand this kind of problem."
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