Klaus torpedos Prague's EU presidency

Czech President Václav Klaus has managed to ensure that the Czech constitutional court's ruling on the Treaty of Lisbon comes so late that Prague will not be able to ratify the document before the beginning of its EU presidency. In doing so he has put the government of Mirek Topolanek in a very embarrassing position, writes conservative daily Lidové noviny, and names the president's reasons for doing this: "The more the Czech Republic is integrated into the EU the more superfluous a man like Klaus becomes. This is why he claims the presidency is of no consequence, saying it's only the major EU states who make the decisions anyway. His message: 'Listen to me, I'll get you out of this mess.' It was to be expected that Klaus would torpedo the EU presidency [of the government in Prague] with comments, alternative meetings and press releases. Why is Klaus risking the failure of his own country? Above all to prove that he is right in everything."

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

» To the complete press review of Friday, November 7, 2008