Fugitive millionaire Viktor Kozeny to stand in European Parliament elections?
Viktor Kozeny is wanted in connection with the biggest scandal of the Czech Republic's privatisation process of the 1990s, having allegedly cheated small investors out of billions of crowns. Six weeks ago a Czech court issued an international warrant for his arrest. Now, bizarrely, Mr Kozeny - who lives in the Bahamas - says he is planning to run in the first Czech elections to the European Parliament, which are taking place next June. He explained his plans in an interview this week:
Viktor Kozeny, dubbed the "Pirate of Prague", is not only wanted in the Czech Republic: the United States authorities are also trying to extradite him, accusing him of defrauding US investors of hundreds of millions dollars in an oil-deal in Azerbaijan. While the authorities in the Bahamas have refused to help their Czech counterparts, a court there is due to rule on whether to hand Mr Kozeny (40) over to the US. One thing is clear: if the "Pirate of Prague" sets foot in the Czech Republic or the US he will be immediately arrested.
It is quite a mystery how he plans to run in the elections to the European Parliament. He has not been in the Czech Republic since 1994, when he fled with his plundered millions. Mr Kozeny is now an Irish citizen, and is jokingly referred to by some as Viktor O'Kozeny. However, the fact he is no longer a citizen of the Czech Republic does not preclude him from standing in the country's first ever elections to the European Parliament next June; as an Irish citizen he has an EU passport, the significance of which is explained by David Kral, the director of the Czech think tank Europeum:
"The law allows any citizen of the Czech Republic to stand in the European elections, along with citizens of any European Union country who spend 45 days in this country and have a registered address. Conditions for registration are set in the law on foreigners - they are less strict for citizens of other EU states."
From what Mr Kral says it follows that Viktor Kozeny would have to spend a month and a half in the Czech Republic before running for election. However, if he attempts to do so he will soon find himself behind bars.
This leaves us with the question of why Mr Kozeny has announced he is planning to stand in the European Parliament elections. His fortunes have taken a turn for the worse in recent years (and his monetary fortune has been shrinking), but that alone does not explain his decision. If indeed he means it seriously: two years ago he said he was going to launch a new party ahead of the 2002 general elections. The elections came and went with no sign of the "pirate" on the horizon.
