Czech EU-Presidency

In the context of today's intervention by Czech President Václav Klaus in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-President of the Greens/EFA group, said: "Václav Klaus seems to have perfectly timed his visit to the European parliament to fall right in the middle of the Carnival festival. To mark the occasion, the Greens would like to nominate him for a special Carnival award in recognition of his efforts as provocateur of the year. His speech to this house was a perfect source of festive amusement...

In his speech, Mr Klaus outlined a completely twisted and manipulated view of the European reality. He has demonstrated a total ignorance of the historic importance of European integration. To seriously compare the decision-making process in the European Union with that of the Soviet Union indicates that the man has lost all touch with reality."

Green MEP Milan Horáček said:

"Just yesterday, the Czech Republic moved a step closer to ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, following the vote by the parliament for ratification. However, just after this democratic decision was taken, members of the Senate and the President regrettably announced their determination to delay the process.

Václav Klaus is no stranger to political contrarianism. He continues to ignore all the scientific evidence by denying the reality of manmade climate change. He has also demonstrated disturbing economic naivety by comparing the global financial crisis to a 'flu that takes a week if treated by the doctor and seven days if one does nothing'.

His visit to the European parliament today was completely consistent with this fantastical approach to politics. His embarrassing speech underlined his divorce from political reality. This facile and boorish approach to politics does a disservice to the Czech government and more importantly the Czech citizens, who he is supposed to represent. "

Press Service of the Greens/EFA Group
in the European Parliament

Chris Coakley,
Press Officer,
The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament
Tel: Brussels +32 2 2841667 / Strasburg +33 3 88174375
Mobile: +32-477-44-38-42
Fax: 0032 2 2844944
email: ccoakley@europarl.europa.eu