Respekt: Criticism of EU as Klaus' legacy

Prague, Feb 21 (CTK) - Criticism of the European Union will undoubtedly be the main theme of current Czech President Vaclav Klaus when his second and last possible term expires in early 2013, Ivana Svobodova quotes Jiri Payne as saying in the latest issue of weekly Respekt.

Payne, 55, has known Klaus, 71, for more than 20 years. They met in the Civic Forum, the decisive force behind the fall of the communist regime in late 1989, and in 1991 they jointly founded the Civic Democratic Party (ODS, that has ruled the country for a bigger part of the post-communist period), Svobodova writes.

She writes that Payne has been Klaus's adviser since 2004.

When Klaus left the ODS in protest against the political line pursued by then party chairman Mirek Topolanek in 2008, Payne joined him, Svoboda writes.

One year later Payne helped found the Party of Free Citizens that is based on the rejection of a united Europe and he wants to run for it in the autumn Senate elections, Svobodova says.

"The goal of the ˇfree' is to lead the country out from the European Union. In this we go further than Vaclav Klaus who has been saying to date that there is no alternative to Union membership," Svobodova quotes Payne as saying.

Though he frequently meets Klaus, Payne says he is unable to say for sure what Klaus will do when his presidential term expires, whether he will return to party life, or whether he will stay outside it, Svobodova writes.

"We do not talk about the position from which he wants to spread his (anti-EU) ideas, and I am almost sure that not even gentlemen (Ladislav) Jakl, (Jiri) Weigl and (Petr) Hajek know this," Payne said referring to Klaus's closest aides.

Payne is right in that Klaus has never clearly said the Czech Republic should leave the EU, but the comments he has been making of late clearly stand for this, Svobodova said.

She writes that in a lecture he made in Riyadh last month, for instance, Klaus said he assesses "the positive effect of the EU as small, if not negative."

On his recent visit to Turkey he said ties with the European Union harm the Czech Republic, Svobodova recalls.

She writes that Payne does not think that Klaus's real internal goal is to lead the Czech Republic out from the Union.

"This would be a small goal. I think that he wants to break up the European Union," Payne said.

"Eurosceptical groups exist in all states and the stream is gathering force in the current crisis. Vaclav Klaus will be touring Europe and promoting this stream," Payne said.

He said it is necessary to place general welfare over the blindness of states that have not yet comprehended the "undemocratic and false game" Brussels plays and to help Europeans arrange the continent so that clerks do not make decisions instead of politicians.

"It is simply necessary to put European cooperation on democratic bases," Payne said adding that Vaclav Klaus could manage this.

Payne rejects the opinions of those saying that by breaking up the EU Klaus is playing into the hands of Russia that still considers east Europe its sphere of influence, Svobodova writes.

"In our conditions we cannot avoid cooperation with Russia. Besides, democracy is growing there. Can you imagine that demonstrations in squares would have been allowed there 20 years ago ?" Payne said.

Like Klaus Payne believes that the incursion of Russian tanks into Georgia was a legitimate defence of interests and like Klaus he praises Russian interests in the completion of the nuclear power plant in Temelin, south Bohemia, Svobodova writes.

"The president is a pragmatist and he knows that Russia is the best trade partner for us," Payne said.

To imagine ex-president Vaclav Klaus leading European nations to the toppling of the dictatorship of Brussels bureaucrats is rather strange, Svobodova writes.

Yet, Klaus is a strong politician who has been successfully pushing through his stands and it is a question of what he will do with his strength when he leaves the presidential seat, she writes.

He still could return to the ODS or found a new party with his hard-core supporters from the ODS, yet all knowledgeable people doubt this possibility, Svobodova writes.

"You cannot do a faction head after you held the post of president," Svobodova quotes Klaus's son Vaclav as saying.

It seems that Klaus's presidential library is the main certainty. He has been building it with the help of billionaire Petr Kellner. The library is to be a sort of Klaus's think tank, Svobodova write.

She writes that Klaus, his son Vaclav, Jakl and Weigl have already collected their criminal record statements for the project aas required.

"They have already found a building and everything should be announced within a month. They plan to orgnise lectures and some educational activities there," Vaclav Klaus Jr said.

The library will extend Klaus's core think tank CEP and it will cooperate with similarly-orientated ideological centres in Europe," Svobodova quotes CEVRO liberal-conservative think tank analyst Ladislav Mrklas as saying.

"He has no distinctive opponent here, therefore he will continue to be the sole distinctive voice on European integration. Besides, every new ODS leadership will be listening to him. He does not need to enter practical politics to be able to influence developments," Mrklas said.