Main focus of Thursday, November 13, 2008

Vacláv Klaus angers the Irish

Czech President Vacláv Klaus has angered the Irish. During a state visit to Ireland he participated as guest of honour at a dinner hosted by Eurosceptic Declan Ganley, who provided considerable support to the Irish No campaign against the Treaty of Lisbon. Europe's press questions the behaviour of the man who will take over as EU Council president this January.

The Irish Times - Ireland

The Irish Times writes that Klaus' criticism of the Treaty of Lisbon does not tally with his role as president: "[The Irish] Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin described this yesterday as an inappropriate intervention by a visiting head of state, given that the Government is engaged in discussions about the Lisbon Treaty with other member states on behalf of the Irish people. That is the least that can be said about Mr Klaus's comments. While he has every right to meet whoever he wishes in the private part of the visit, it is a different matter - and a definite breach of normal diplomatic protocol - to intervene in this way. He is perfectly entitled to express his views about Ireland's role concerning the future of the Lisbon Treaty, since we share a common politics on the subject in the EU which requires open deliberation and contestation. But this does not extend to speaking as Czech president during an official visit to Ireland when his criticisms do not in fact represent those of the Czech government." (13/11/2008)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU enlargement, » EU Constitution, » Ireland, » Czech Republic

Právo - Czech Republic

The left-leaning daily Pravo writes: "It is to be expected of the [Czech] president that he supports the (pro-European) foreign policy of his government. Klaus, however, who regards himself as an 'EU dissident', is deliberately sabotaging this policy. When he met with Ganley, an opponent of the Irish government's policy, it was not in his capacity as a professor from Prague. Unfortunately he was speaking for the Czech Republic. .. Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin spoke yesterday about a diplomatic faux pas. This is not only a disgrace for our president, but a disservice to Czech policy as a whole. He put a spanner in the works of the government, which is just gearing up for its EU Council presidency. That verges on the criminal." (13/11/2008)

» more information (external link, Czech)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Constitution, » Domestic Policy, » Ireland, » Czech Republic, » Europe
All available articles from » Pavel Verner

Die Welt - Germany

The conservative daily Die Welt is surprised at  Klaus' maverick approach: "Revolutions can have some strange effects. The fall of socialism in 1989 turned boilermen into foreign ministers, poets into presidents and it seemed round tables would be the piece of furniture par excellence of the future. But one individual, also a child of the revolution, revolted against this trend from the very beginning. ... As the staunch EU opponent that he has become, he [Klaus] has now used a visit to apostate Ireland to ... repeat his conviction that the EU is a compulsory institution akin to socialism. ... Václav Klaus' attempt to single-handedly ... block the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon smacks of monomania. Notwithstanding, incensed outrage is the wrong response, for the right to call everything into question is one of the guaranteed freedoms of democracy. There are worse traditions than the liberal one from which Klaus stems. Naturally, one wonders what on earth could have driven this president, who even in his own country is an isolated figure, to attempt pull off a one-man-show as a radical on the international political stage." (13/11/2008)

» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Ireland, » Czech Republic, » Europe
All available articles from » Thomas Schmid

» To the complete press review of Thursday, November 13, 2008