President’s New Year’s address moderate on EU with equal time devoted to economic crisis

Hours after the Czech Republic took the helm of the European Union, there were worries in Prague that the country’s Eurosceptic president, Václav Klaus, could launch an embarrassing attack on the EU in his annual New Year’s address. In the end, such fears proved unfounded – the president’s speech was moderate on the EU and, indeed, devoted just as much time to the effects of the global financial crisis.

Václav Klaus, photo: CTK

Much international reporting on the launch of the Czech Republic’s presidency has focused on the country’s president, Václav Klaus, who has been described as the strongest Eurosceptic in office anywhere in the EU.

Here in Prague, there were fears he could cause embarrassment literally on day one of the Czech presidency, if he were to attack the EU in his annual New Year’s Day address to the nation. In the end such worries proved unfounded, as the Czech president held his fire on European integration in a speech that one minister described as “constructive”.

“Membership of the European Union has no alternative for us, and it is unfair when somebody tries to make us believe otherwise. However, the methods and forms of European integration do have a number of variants. Some lead to a freer world, others to a less free world. Elections to the European Parliament in June this year may contribute to the search for a reasonable European system. We should take part in them.”

In his 15-minute New Year’s speech, the Czech president devoted as much time to economic matters as to the European Union. Exactly a year after telling Czechs they had probably never had it so good, Mr Klaus said on Thursday that there was no way the country could avoid the impacts of the global financial crisis on the real economy. He said Czechs needed a strong government that would limit bureaucracy, and called for innovation and cohesion in the face of the economic downturn.

Václav Klaus, photo: CTK

“More than in previous years, we will need active and competent entrepreneurs and managers capable of finding new opportunities, products and markets and dealing with the fall in demand overseas. We will need reasonable employees, and above all trades unions who will understand the importance of social cohesion in overcoming financial difficulties.”

As well as the main themes of his annual address, President Klaus also mentioned the fact that 2009 will see the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism, and the tenth anniversary of the Czech Republic joining NATO; he said the latter had had its “costs and victims”, but said they were outweighed by the benefits of membership.