Meeting between president and EU delegation sees argument

A meeting between Czech President Václav Klaus and members of the European Parliament erupted in sharp dispute on Friday, with the president of the EP Hans-Gert Poettering stepping in to try and calm the situation, the news site aktuálně.cz reported. According to aktuálně, Mr Klaus was angered when questioned by Green Party MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit and wanted to cut the meeting short. Mr Cohn-Bendit is said to have asked the president about his stance on the Lisbon treaty, as well as about his ties to Declan Ganley, the head of the conservative think-tank Libertas (Mr Klaus, a euro-sceptic, met with the Irish businessman last month in the face of EU criticism). Daniel Cohn-Bendit later described Friday’s meeting at Prague Castle as “crazy” and Mr Klaus’s behaviour as “paranoid”. The president’s spokesman Jiří Weigl rejected Mr Cohn-Bendit’s account of the incident and called his actions a “provocation”.

Author: Jan Velinger