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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