ForMin: Czechs insist on Temelín nuke plant's completion

Vienna/Prague, Jan 5 (CTK) - The Czech Republic insists on the completion of the Temelin nuclear power plant, Czech Foreign Minister and presidential candidate Karel Schwarzenberg said in an interview for the Profil Austrian magazine.

There are no reasons to fear a similar accident that occurred in the Fukushima Japanese nuclear plant after tsunami in 2011, he said.

"The last tsunami hit the Czech Lands some 500 million years ago and we are not expecting any other in the next several thousand years," Schwarzenberg told Profil, in reaction to the question whether Temelin should be completed in spite of the Fukushima crisis.

Commenting of a recent visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who was lobbying for the U.S.-Japanese firm Westinghouse, bidding for the Temelin completion, Schwarzenberg said he considered it natural that every head of diplomacy was promoting firms from his/her country.

Bids for the order worth 200 to 300 billion crowns have also been made by the Czech-Russian Consortium MIR.1200 and French Areva that has been excluded from the competition, but it has appealed the verdict.

Schwarzenberg, 75, also spoke about his chance of becoming next Czech president, in the interview for Profil.

The first round of the first direct presidential election in the Czech Republic is scheduled for January 11-12, a possible second round will be held two weeks later.

Schwarzenberg said he would have had a better chance two years ago when his popularity had not been affected by the economic crisis and the government austerity measures.

He is convinced that the next Czech president will definitely show a more accommodating approach to the European Union than the current President Vaclav Klaus, Schwarzenberg said.

He also mentioned that his presidential candidature was supported by the most important Czech rock bands.