Klaus blames Georgian conflict on Georgian government

Czech president Václav Klaus has said that the Georgian government is responsible for the country’s current conflict with Russia. Mr Klaus criticized the Georgian government’s behaviour, as well the Western media’s reaction to the conflict, in a letter to the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes on Monday. President Klaus said on Friday that he thought Russia had more justification than ever for its actions following Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia earlier this year. He called the attitude of Western leaders towards the crisis in Georgia ‘hypocritical’, given the way they had reacted to Kosovo. Mr Klaus’s views are at odds with those held by the Czech government on the Georgian situation. Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has blamed the conflict in Georgia on Russia.