Slovak prime minister wades into ambassadorial row, backing Klausová

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said in an interview for the Czech news website idnes that Livia Klausová (former First Lady of the Czech Republic) would be warmly welcomed in his country if she were named the next Czech ambassador to Bratislava. He added his view that whoever had put forward her name showed a “great understanding for Czech-Slovak ties”. Livia Klausová, herself Slovak by birth and the wife of former president Václav Klaus, was backed for the post weeks ago by her husband’s successor, Miloš Zeman. But the country’s Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg came out resolutely against, saying she lacked the necessary experience. The disagreement between Mr Schwarzenberg and the president has since escalated in the media and remains unresolved. A number of pundits have suggested the row has hurt the country internationally.