President says he is ‘ashamed’ of his government’s decision to recognise Kosovo

Czech president Václav Klaus has said that he is ‘ashamed’ of his country’s government following on from its decision to recognise Kosovo’s independence. On Friday, Mr Klaus met the Serbian ambassador to Prague Vladimir Vereš, who is being summoned home from the Czech capital in light of the Czech cabinet’s decision. In a letter to the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes on Saturday, president Klaus said that he had been reminded by Mr Vereš that the Yugoslav government had been one of the few not to ‘betray’ Czechoslovakia following the Prague Spring of 1968, and that he was ‘ashamed’ of his cabinet’s decision. Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said in response that he too was extremely sad that the Serbian ambassador to Prague was being withdrawn, but that the Czech government had no choice but to recognise Kosovo’s independence.