Czech government adopts mainstream stance on Libya
The Czech government has outlined the country’s stance ahead of an upcoming extraordinary EU summit that will deal with the situation in Libya and other North African countries. President Václav Klaus, who will head the Czech delegation, will tell his counterparts from other EU countries in Brussels on Friday that Prague will only support measures approved by the UN Security Council. But critics say that the Czech Republic, and the West, is again doing too little, too late.
Drawing a parallel between the defiant Libyan leader and the former Yugoslav president Slobodan Miloševič, Václav Havel said the West should not repeat the same mistake in waiting too long before taking action. In Mr Havel’s opinion, Western countries should either provide support for the rebels, establish a no-fly zone or launch targeted attacks against Gaddafi’s strongholds.
But President Václav Klaus, who will represent the Czech Republic at Friday’s extraordinary EU summit in Brussels, was quick to display his disapproval. He said he did not agree with Mr Havel on this one just as he “fatally opposed” his predecessor’s approval of the NATO campaign in Yugoslavia. On Thursday, the Czech government came out with a similar stance. Prime Minister Petr Nečas told reporters what the Czech position at the summit will be.
The government’s position was not difficult to negotiate with President Klaus, who will represent the Czech Republic at the EU summit because it’s identical with his own view. But the Czech Foreign Ministry has taken a more complicated route to get to the same position.
In February, the news website EUObserver.com quoted Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg as saying the EU should not get involved too much in Libya. Mr Schwarzenberg denied the report and four days later, he agreed with his Georgian colleague that Gaddafi’s violent actions were unacceptable and must be punished. On March 1, Mr Schwarzenberg said that in case of urgent necessity, the Czech Republic would support a military intervention against pro-Gaddafi forces. A week later, however, the Czech foreign minister backtracked again when he said the conflict was Libya’s internal affair.
“What I think is a pity, if not wrong, is that the Czech government, with the country’s record of support for human rights and various democratic movements, be it in dictatorships or in countries like Burma and so on – that the government did not say anything stronger. It should have at least left the door open for more robust action.”
For the current Czech government, however, foreign affairs are of marginal interest as it invests most of its energy into its reform agenda at home. While considered a logical position given the country’s strategic bantum weight in the international arena, it comes as a disappointment to those who hope the West will end the bloodshed in their country. Dia Eddin Felfel is from the Libyans’ Association in the Czech Republic.
