March 01, 2003

Czechs elect EU critic as president

The Czech Republic's forthcoming membership of the European Union, and the stability of its government, were cast into uncertainty last night when Vaclav Klaus, a Thatcherite and Eurosceptic, snatched the presidency by the narrowest of margins.
[...]
Athough the powers of the Czech presidency are relatively limited, Mr Klaus is a famously abrasive and strong-minded politician.

He is also one of central Europe's most articulate critics of the EU.

The combination of the Spidla government's weakness and the new president's Euroscepticism could cause problems for the Czech referendum on joining the EU this spring.
[...]
Although Mr Klaus is unlikely to run an overtly anti-EU campaign, his outspokenness could strain relations with France and Germany, which are already incensed by the Czechs' support for Washington's plans to go to war in Iraq. [With no mention of how Chirak's outspokenness has affected Czech relations with France.--Jen]

Mr Klaus is an ardent Thatcherite monetarist who led the effort to break up Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then presided over the economic transformation of the Czech Republic through the 1990s.

Just a guess, but I'm thinking that "arden Thatcherite monetarist" is the worst thing that The Guardian can say about a politician.
That, combined with the "Their sky is falling in Prague!" cynicism that permeates this story and their perpetual Loony Left bias leads me to believe that the Czechs have found themselves a good man on the third try.
This report and the one at the BBC both omit to inform the reader that Mr. Klaus was elected to be PM of the Czech Republic twice before: in 1993 and reelected to another term in '96.
I think he sounds like a Czech version of Bush--definitely Conservative--and someone who will continue to lead the Czech Republic in the right direction, which in my book is certainly away from the EU!
I predict that this will be the first of many such steps of the New Europe away from the tyranny threatened by the Old EUrope.