Klaus awarded in Bratislava

Outgoing Czech President Václav Klaus received an award from the Slovak Entrepreneur’s Association on Wednesday, the second day of his visit to Bratislava. The association praised Mr Klaus’s role in the economic transformation of Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic from a central economy to a free market economy after 1989. Mr Klaus served as finance minister in Czechoslovakia and then prime minister in the Czech Republic, overseeing wide-ranging but often criticised reforms in the 1990s. In Bratislava, the president – who leaves office next week – discussed the EU and slammed the union as no longer being a symbol of prosperity. An outspoken EU critic, he also downplayed the negative impact of a member state leaving the euro zone, citing the Czech Republic’s and Slovakia’s own split and successful separation of currency.

Author: Jan Velinger