Vaclav Klaus-Meet the new face of the European Union-danger looms ahead for EU - by Rick Attig
When Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, swept through Portland a month or so ago on a tour to promote his new book on how global warming is a "myth," he paused long enough to share a friendly pint with the newspaper's beer columnist and lecture three Editorial Board members about climate change and European politics. It is his views on the EU that has Klaus in the international news this week, because the Czech Republic, and thus Klaus himself, are next in line to assume the rotating presidency of the EU. He assumes that role Jan. 1, replacing the union's departing leader, Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Klaus couldn't be more different than Sarkozy. As The New York Times reported Monday, there are fears that Klaus will embarrass the world's largest trading bloc, and derail its efforts to respond to the economic crisis and to the risks posed by climate change. He will, at least, be the first EU president to have called for it to be "scrapped" and to compare the organization to a "communist state," a claim that prompted the Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, to say that Klaus is critical of the EU because he does not fully understand how it works. There's that wink again. During the interview in Portland Vaclav Klaus batted away questions like they were annoying insects, and we got a glimpse or two of the leader that a British historian, Timothy Garton, called "one of the rudest men I have ever met."
No comments:
Post a Comment