Klaus intends to vote despite suggesting EP elections were waste of time

Czech President Václav Klaus says he will vote in the elections to the European Parliament, despite having earlier this week suggested they would be a waste of time. Mr Klaus told Czech Radio that there were new parties standing who regarded the future direction of the EU as important. The president also said that while the country’s two biggest parties the Civic Democrats and the Social Democrats disagreed about domestic issues, they had similar views on Europe. An active opponent of the EU’s Lisbon treaty, Mr Klaus said the European elections could represent something of a referendum on the document, after Czech voters were denied a real referendum on the matter.

In Paris on Tuesday the Czech president described the elections as unnecessary. His comments have led to a war of words with France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, who said Mr Klaus was trying to “demolish” Europe. In reaction, the latter said in a statement issued on his website on Thursday that Mr Kouchner was trying to demolish democratic discussion.