Russian media praises Czech president

The Czech president Václav Klaus has won widespread praise from the Russian media for his recent controversial comments that “Russia was not the aggressor and Georgia is not the victim” in the conflict over South Ossetia. In comments made by the Russian station NTV, Klaus received applause for rejecting a so-called “black-and-white view of the world” and also for rejecting the positions of allies such as Poland and Ukraine which have been harshly critical of Russia. This is not the first time that the Czech president has caused controversy. Previous comments critical about the role of NGOs or the existence of man-made climate change have been disavowed by successive Czech governments.