euro|topics - Jiří Hanák

14/10/2008

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Hanák, Jiří

3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Právo - Czech Republic | 29/08/2008

Sanctions against Russia?

For the first time French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner mentioned yesterday the possibility of imposing sanctions against Russia for its conduct in the Caucasus. The left-liberal newspaper Právo considers this approach unrealistic: "The only sanction that would really hurt Russia would be if Europe were to stop buying its gas. But the EU cannot afford to do this even in theory because it would collapse before Russia even noticed the difference. Independence on Russian raw materials is a mortal sin. The EU has never been able to agree on a common energy policy. ... One could exclude Russia from the G8 group of states. It doesn't belong there anyway; it was only allowed to join as a gesture to Mikhail Gorbachev. Boycotting the Sochi Olympic Games would only be a moral gesture. So what can be done? A ban on imports of Russian caviar? Rubbish! ... The West has no alternative but to act rationally and try and save what can be saved. Both Georgian provinces have been lost. The main priority now is to save Ukraine from a similar fate."

Právo - Czech Republic | 06/08/2008

Stubborn Klaus

Czech President Vaclav Klaus has spoken out against over-ambitious goals for the Czech EU presidency scheduled for the first half of 2009. The parliament in Prague, he says, should not focus exclusively on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon as long as the Irish say no to it. The left-wing newspaper Právo suspects Klaus's remarks are motivated by personal interests: "It would be helpful if Prague made an effort to persuade the Irish [to ratify the treaty], particularly now that the British Conservatives and the last Polish hussar, President Kaczynski, have given up their battle against Lisbon. ... Klaus's talk of national interests and preserving national sovereignty conceals an unspoken message: it is better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. This is the secret behind his opposition to integration."

Právo - Czech Republic | 22/05/2008

A shameful recognition

After a long period of hesitation the Czech Republic has recognised Kosovo. Jiří Hanák says the situation reminds him of the Munich Agreement of 1938, under which the Western Powers ceded the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. This move was perceived as an act of betrayal by Czechoslovakia at the time. "Great Britain and France faced the choice between shame and war in 1938. They chose shame, and on top of it got war. In the Kosovo problem, the West faced the choice between shame and peace in the Balkans. It chose shame, but there is unlikely to be peace in the region. ... When the Western powers amputated a piece of Czechoslovakia in 1938, thousands of Serbs volunteered to serve in the Czechoslovakian army. Prague could have remembered this, but in politics there is no gratitude."

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