Former Ambassador to Kuwait hopes to share experiences in the European Parliament

The Czech Republic's first ever European Elections saw two non-parliamentary parties win enough votes to be represented in the European Parliament - the Independents (NEZ), grouped around former TV magnate Vladimir Zelezny, and the European Democrats (ED), which have joined forces with the Coalition of Independent Candidates (SNK). The bigger winners of the two are the latter grouping, winning 11 percent of the vote. Former Czech ambassador to Kuwait Jana Hybaskova is one of their three future Euro-deputies:

Jana Hybaskova and Jan Kasl, photo: CTK

"I was counting on seven or eight percent. Eleven percent of support is much more than we expected."

In the election campaign you said that you did not get lost in Kuwait and you would not get lost in the European Parliament. What are your plans for the future in Brussels?

"First of all, I am an expert on the Arabic language and culture and have experience in the fight against terrorism and issues in the Middle East. So, I hope that I will be able to offer my experiences and professional quality, the knowledge of Arabic and of the Middle East area in the European Parliament because I think that the fight against terrorism is going to be a priority of the next European Parliament."

Voter turnout was very low. Do you think that more people will cast their ballots in the upcoming regional elections and that it will result in more support for you?

"I think this question is actually more important than the question of what we will do in Brussels. The European Democrats and the SNK is a new project on the Czech political scene and Monday's results showed quite clearly that there is a demand for change. It's not only from those who came to vote but also from those who did not come. Their attitude shows that change is needed. We will try to do our best to, in several regions, get at least half of the seats in the regional and local authorities and that is our main future plan."

Since it appears that the Eurosceptics are winning all around Europe, will you be entering in discussion with them?

"Well, you know that we are not eurosceptics, on the contrary we are quite a pro-European grouping but that does not mean that we are Euro-naïve. The polls showed that there is a need for a new discussion on what to do with the enlarged Europe, or the constitution, and of course we are ready to take part in this discussion."