Does curtailed programme spell snub for Obama’s Czech hosts?

Four days to go until Barack Obama visits Prague and it seems the US president has rather scaled down his itinerary, with reports that plans to have dinner with the Czech head of state Václav Klaus have been dropped: instead Mr Obama – who US officials say will be tired after G20 and NATO summits – is apparently going to have a private dinner with his wife Michelle. Would that represent a snub to his hosts? After all, both the Czech prime minister and president have criticized Mr Obama’s approach to the financial crisis, and the latter is a climate change denier. I asked Erik Best, a US journalist in Prague:

Barack Obama, photo: CTK

“I think it definitely is being read that way – that it is a snub. I think that diplomatically it is not quite so easy to say that it is, because technically this is a meeting with the European Union, so I think there is some wiggle-room for the White House. But I think that given Vaclav Klaus’s track-record, it is more likely that the newspapers will read it as exactly that, as a snub. They will say that Obama is giving the cold-shoulder to the president of the Czech Republic.”

Why would he do that? It seems that Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has not avoided this treatment either, why would President Barack Obama want to come to the Czech Republic and not actually spend that much time with the president or the prime minister?

“Well, I think that the White House is in a bit of a difficult situation in this case, because on the one hand it wants to show that it is devoted to Central Europe. The US played a big part in the expansion of NATO and the European Union, and it wants to demonstrate that, it wants to show support, especially now that the crisis is taking hold in this region.

“But at the same time President Klaus has been problematic. He was problematic for the previous administration, and he continues to be so, just a few weeks ago he was quite critical of the budget. And these are people, they take out their frustrations on each other, and the United States is in a position where it can show that it has the upper hand, and though this doesn’t appeal to me, this is in fact the way that politics works sometimes.”

Would you say that in recent weeks President Obama’s Czech visit has become something of an embarrassment for all parties concerned?

“I think that is probably going a bit too far. I would think that for the Czechs it remains something of great prestige, even though it is not going to turn out quite as they wanted, even though they are not going to have quite the ‘face-time’ with Obama that they may have wanted. But nevertheless, hundreds of journalists will be coming to town, there will be a big event, the beauty of Prague will be shown. And I think that from that standpoint the Czechs are still very proud to have it here. But I think the fact that the government has fallen, the fact that the president probably had a role in the collapse of the government, are some things that make it a bit more difficult for the Obama administration.”

In the face of this being potentially a slightly less momentous summit than the G20 in London and the very short meetings that Mr Obama will be holding with President Václav Klaus and potentially Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, would you say that Prague is just a pretty backdrop for Barack Obama to make a speech? Would you say that this is what Prague amounts to on Mr Obama’s European tour?

Václav Klaus, photo: CTK

“I think it is a bit more than a pretty backdrop, I think that it is also the fact that Central and Eastern Europe are experiencing difficulties, the United States was instrumental in getting these countries into the European Union and into NATO and I think that it is important for them now to demonstrate that they stand behind these countries. So, it is certainly a nice backdrop, the castle will be a beautiful thing to show on CNN and CNBC and the other stations, but at the same time it is a big show, I think, and the fact that Prague is beautiful and in a place where either many Americans have been, or want to go, plays an important role.”

Barack Obama is due to arrive on Saturday in the late afternoon and will spend around 24 hours in the Czech capital. Though details are still not entirely clear, it seems that on Saturday evening he will dine with his wife and may meet representatives of the American community in Prague. On Sunday morning the US president will make a speech at Prague Castle, prior to a summit with European Union leaders. Before leaving for Turkey on Sunday evening, Mr Obama is also expected to meet former Czech president Václav Havel. Tune in to Radio Prague for more details as they emerge, and of course a special programme on Sunday bringing you all of the news from President Obama’s visit.