Prague, Oct 1 (CTK) – Petr Drulak, the Czech foreign minister’s political secretary who has been criticised by many, will be the new Czech ambassador to France, Lidove noviny (LN) writes on Saturday, adding that the opponents of Drulak’s promotion have given in to his supporters including President Milos Zeman.
In early September, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek’s (Social Democrats, CSSD) proposal to nominate Drulak for ambassador to Paris caused a sharp row at a cabinet meeting with ministers yelling at each other across the hall, LN writes.
The situation has changed now. Zaoralek will propose Drulak’s nomination to the cabinet once again and he will face no opposition, though Drulak has only passive command of French, judging by his CV, and though Culture Minister Daniel Herman (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) labelled him an anti-Semitist, the paper writes.
Drulak, 44, an academic, has been arousing emotions since 2014 when Zaoralek chose him for first deputy foreign minister.
He attracted the media attention mainly by labelling Vaclav Havel’s foreign policy idea and style as false, harmful and overcome, LN writes.
He later argued that he only did not want to force the Czech approach to human rights upon China and Russia, but by no means he wanted to undermine the Czech Republic’s image abroad, the daily writes.
Nevertheless, his condemnation of Havel’s foreign political style shaped the image of his own and he became a bothersome political burden [for the government], LN continues.
Prime Minister and CSSD chairman Bohuslav Sobotka rebuked Drulak for relativising Havel’s legacy at the time. He asked him to realise that he is a mere administrative clerk. This, paradoxically, has catapulted him to the ambassadorial post in Paris, LN writes.
A Czech diplomatic source has told the daily that people at the Foreign Ministry never accepted Drulak as a deputy minister.
“After Drulak’s [controversial] statements, Zaoralek probably realised that Drulak harms him at home. In such situations, they try to place such a person far away. France is logical, as Drulak, as a representative of the modern European left, has good relations with French political scientists,” LN quotes its source as saying.
As an intellectual prone to an academic debate rather than diplomatic caution, and with his statements relativising Havel’s policy, Drulak has won support of the people around President Zeman, also because he seems to be open to a closer and more friendly cooperation with Russia and China, though he may not have meant his words that way, LN writes.
The embassy in Paris, together with those in Berlin and London, belongs to the most prestigious and the most sought-after by diplomats, the paper writes.
Originally, the CSSD wanted to propose former PM and EU commissioner Vladimir Spidla for the post in Paris. Spidla, who speaks French, would be an optimal candidate. However, he would never gain support from Zeman, who considers him one of the traitors who prevented his election for president by parliament in 2003, the daily writes.
According to LN’s information, it was Zeman who had the final say and backed the nomination of Drulak in spite of the protests of some ministers. Herman for example, called Drulak “an anti-Semitist” because Drulak called for Prague to launch a dialogue with Israel instead of siding with it uncritically.
“We are trying to find more common agenda with our Palestinian partners. Let’s hope some will not label this policy anti-Semitist,” Drulak wrote in a media article in an obvious hint at Herman and his accusation, LN writes.
