Public figures launch petition for EU fiscal treaty

Prague, Feb 13 (CTK) - Over 300 Czech prominent personalities have launched an appeal asking the government and Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democratic Party, ODS) to change their mind and join the EU fiscal treaty, organisers of the Yes for Europe petition told CTK yesterday.

Along with Britain, the Czech Republic has been the only EU member not to have joined the EU fiscal treaty that is to help resolve the current debt crisis primarily in the euro zone.

The petition was launched by Jiri Pehe, a political analyst and former aide to the late president Vaclav Havel, Catholic priest and thinker Tomas Halik and activist Monika Donath-Pajerova.

When speaking in parliament, Necas said he had not ruled out the signature at the latest EU summit in Brussels, but merely did not pledge to do so due to the mandate from the government.

The stand is criticised not only by the opposition, but also by Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, leader of the conservative TOP 09.

The final decision has to be made by early March when another EU summit is to be held.

The petition says by rejecting the treaty, the Czech Republic is uselessly eliminating itself from the main current of European integration.

The Czech stand does not bring anything positive to the nation, seriously harming its credibility and reputation, it adds.

"The show of inability to voice solidarity with the rest of the EU naturally prompts the question of whether our government is yielding to the political circles who want to sabotage the entire European project," the petition says.

The treaty is opposed by President Vaclav Klaus who is against further European integration.

The petition says its signatories are outraged at the Czech Republic's historic decisions on the international scene becoming repeatedly hostage to domestic political intrigues and disputes.

Necas's manoeuvring with the treaty is influenced much more by the situation inside his party rather than by politically responsible decision-making, it adds.

"In their history, Czechs have repeatedly paid dearly for such a political narrow-mindedness," the petition says.

It has been signed by opposition Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka, former foreign ministers Josef Zieleniec and Cyril Svoboda, former Prague archbishop Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, Czech Helsinki Committee chairwoman Anna Sabatova, former Academy of Sciences chairwoman Helena Illnerova and Havel's brother Ivan M. Havel.