Czech presidency: the wrong country at the wrong time

It is regrettable that the Czech government will preside the EU presidency when Barack Obama will enter the White House. President Vaclav Klaus is not only a Euroscekptic and for all the bad reasons but he has also been a strong ally of the Bush administration and a promoter of a rightwing ideology that has shown its disinterest for ethical foreign policies and its lack of concern for social inequality.

Indeed, Klaus, and with him a significant part of the Czech Establishment, is also strongly pro-Atlantic for all the wrong reasons. This conservative bias in defining transatlantic relations has led Prague to support Bush’s disastrous adventure in Iraq and adopt policies and attitudes that imply that the Czech Republic is more faithful to Washington’s past than to Washington’s future. Which also means a schizophrenic distance from Brussels.

This European disloyalty should not be praised by those who favour closer ties with Washington. At this crucial moment of history, marked by the most serious recession since the 30s, by a growing international instability and a new geopolitical panorama, there is a real need for a quiet and reasoned partnership between the EU and the US.
The Czech Republic is of course a small country and its power to determine EU policies shouldnot be overestimated. However its nuisance potential is real. Mr. Klaus is an intemperate leader, prone to irresponsible statements and provocations.
Any rash action by a radical conservative like Klaus should be seen as a threat not only to Europe but also to the capacity of the Western alliance to contribute to the re-stabilization of the world and its necessary adaptation to the new risks and realities, from climate change to terrorism, from radical Islamism to transnational crime..

Doubts should also emerge concerning Prague's double standards in its human rights policies. The Czech republic appears at some point to be very active on human rights issues, but its focus is mostly on communist countries like Cuba and Belarus, and tends to follow Klaus' fascination with Margaret Thatcher, who had a hemiphlegic conception of freedoms, slamming communist governements and cozying up to the Pinochets of the world.

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