Prague, Oct 24 (CTK) – President Milos Zeman is about to decorate former German chancellor Gerhard Schroder on the Czech national holiday on October 28, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) wrote on Tuesday, referring to diplomatic sources.
“I cannot comment on such information,” Vratislav Mynar, head of the Presidential Office, told the paper.
Zeman knows Schroder well from the time they were both heads of governments and Social Democrat parties, MfD writes.
Zeman was Czech prime minister between 1998 and 2002 and Social Democrat leader between 1993 and 2001. Schroder served as German chancellor between 1998 and 2005 and as head of the SPD between 1999 and 2004.
At that time, Zeman found in Schroder an important foreign ally who advocated the Czech Republic’s entry to the EU, MfD writes.
Recently, they have shared good relations with Russia. Schroder is now director of the board of Russia’s biggest oil producer Rosneft. The company is controlled by the Russian government and it is listed as a firm on which the EU has imposed sanctions, MfD writes.
Norbert Rottgen, environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety minister in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) from 2009 to May 2012, has accused Schroder of trying to increase Germany’s energetic dependence on Russia, it adds.
“This is the biggest oil company in the world with important links to Germany. This is no servant of the Kremlin. Yes, Russia is the main shareholder, but the British Petroleum and Qatar are also shareholders,” Schroder said, dismissing the criticism.
Like Zeman, Schroder is a favourite of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A photo from the joint celebration of their birthdays was published, MfD writes.
On Saturday, when the national holiday is observed, Zeman wants to highlight his Western links. This purpose is to be helped by the name of another decorated person, Vienna’s Mayor Michael Haupl, it adds.
The Foreign Office of the City of Vienna in Prague confirmed in early October that Haupl will receive the highest Czech state decoration, the Order of the White Lion, for improving Czech-Austrian relations.
Haupl, 68, (Austrian Social Democrats, SPO) has been the mayor of Vienna since 1994. He is the chairman of the Osterreichisch-Tschechische Gesellschaft (Austrian-Czech Association).
According to Aktualne.cz server, Zeman will also decorate Slovenian President Borut Pahor.
Besides, he will bestow awards on a number of Czech outstanding personalities, such as former Czechoslovak chief of staff Karel Pezl, speed-skating champion Martina Sablikova, truck racer Karel Loprais and folk singer Jaromir Nohavica, MfD writes.
Aktualne.cz mentions Miroslav Wajsar, the founder of the first hospice in the Czech Republic, among those to be decorated.
