Czech MEPS debate where Czech Republic should be at European crossroads

The future direction of the European Union is one of the main questions for government leaders and ordinary citizens across the continent. Some of the latter expressed their views in the Brexit referendum. The pluses and negatives of the current political and trade bloc are also at the top of the agenda of the ongoing French presidential elections.

And it’s with that in mind that we invited two leading Czech members of the European Parliament to discuss in Brussels how they see the current situation, the challenges, and where the Czech Republic should be positioning itself as some European countries probably opt to deepen and widen their cooperation together on policy areas while others decide to go their own way. Pavel Telíčka is a deputy president of the European Parliament after being initially elected on the ANO ticket. And Luděk Niedermayer is a former vice governor of the Czech National Bank, also elected in 2014 to the parliament in Brussels but for the TOP 09 STAN party.

I asked Pavel Telíčka first of all what was his reaction to the victories of Centrist Emmanuel Macron and National Front candidate Marine Le Pen in the first round contests where Europe was a major election issue.