Italian foreign minister says weak EU presidency would be disastrous

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, meeting with EU counterparts at Hluboka nad Vltavou in the Czech Republic on Friday, expressed support for the Czech EU presidency, despite the fall of Mirek Topolánek’s government this week. He told reporters that it needed full backing until the end of its term in June, stressing that a weak presidency would be disastrous. Mr Frattini made clear the Czech EU presidency needed to lead in a number of areas, including the holding of the upcoming EU-US summit, which will see US President Barack Obama in Prague.