Prague, Dec 22 (CTK) – The recalling of the Greek ambassador to the Czech Republic for consultations was an unnecessary gesture, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told public Czech Television (CT) yesterday, but he criticised President Milos Zeman´s statements about Greece.
Zeman recently said the Czech Republic can enter the euro zone only after Greece´s participation in it is resolved. This has been the reason why Greece recalled its ambassador Panayotis Sarris, the Greek embassy told CTK yesterday.
Sobotka said this is Greece´s right, but added that such gestures within the EU are not necessary.
“Given how close within the European Union we are, such a gesture is rather unnecessary. In such a situation, I would expect the Greek prime minister to come and convey his objections,” Sobotka told CT.
Now, the foreign ministers of the two countries must deal with the matter, he added.
Sobotka critically commented on Zeman´s statements. “I am not in favour of kicking Europe´s whipping boy number one. Greece was Europe´s favourite whipping boy at the time of the financial crisis, now it is a favourite whipping boy at the time of the migrant crisis. This is not to say that Greece would have always perfectly fulfilled (its tasks). I only want to say that it was not Greece who caused the financial crisis, but the greed on the financial markets. It was not Greece who caused the war in Syria,” Sobotka said.
The Czech Republic should avoid giving advice on who should be or should not be in the euro zone if it alone is not its member.
“As soon as we enter the euro zone, we can frankly tell the other zone members what we think,” Sobotka said.
However, it is necessary to give proper names to the mistakes Greece makes when talking to it, for instance, in connection with the guarding of the outer Schengen border during the migrant crisis, Sobotka said.
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