Czech foreign minister criticizes Germany for disregarding EU allies

Berlin, Jan 8 (CTK) - Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg reproaches Germany for disregarding fellow EU members in solving the euro zone crisis in an interview for the German weekly Der Spiegel to be out on Monday.

It is natural that the EU's minor members dislike agreements on steps to be taken being struck by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at private meetings, without other states' participation, Schwarzenberg told the magazine.

Schwarzenberg, 74, who heads the Czech junior government conservative TOP 09 party, mainly discussed the latest EU turbulences with the German journalists.

He said German representatives should show a more reserved stand at negotiations on the euro's salvation.

"One should not set oneself as an example to follow. A rich uncle who helped you and is demonstratively making it clear to you, gets on one's nerves a lot," Schwarzenberg said.

He praised Merkel as a "tough politician who knows when one should wait for his/her rival to discredit himself. This is a great skill I appreciate," he said.

Nevertheless, Schwarzenberg said he does not know whether Merkel has any idea of Europe's future. "Maybe she has, but I personally don't know it," he said.

He criticised Merkel for solving a number of issues at bilateral meetings with Sarkozy, to which smaller countries are sensitive.

Merkel and Sarkozy meet, discuss politics, and then they simply announce their conclusions to the rest [of the EU], Schwarzenberg complained.

He commented reservedly on the euro zone's fiscal integration.

The euro is an important project, but it is merely an instrument, not the core stone of integrated Europe, Schwarzenberg said.

"The EU arose as a political project and it would survive even without the euro," he added.

The Czech Republic is not a part of the euro zone.

"We must free ourselves from narrow-minded Europe. We need common foreign policy, common security policy, common energy policy. However, we don't need common financial policy," Schwarzenberg said.

He rejected the debate on a double-speed Europe that intensified after the EU's summit in December.

"I'm opposed to double-speed Europe. Everyone who has ever driven along a motorway knows that the slow lane leads towards an exit," Schwarzenberg warned.

He said politicians are to blame for the EU's economic troubles because they allowed their countries' debts to increase for more than a decade.

"This could not work endlessly," he told Der Spiegel.