Final Word from Thursday, August 24, 2006
It's rare for EU issues to play a bigger role after a Czech election than during the campaign, but foreign policy and the CR's EU presidency are suddenly hot issues. ODS is saying the CR will be more active in the EU under it than under the ČSSD governments. Despite this, Jiří Paroubek is opposing ODS's candidate for foreign minister, Alexandr Vondra. He hints that Vondra is too pro-American, but this is only part of the story. Vondra has been one of the most prominent Czechs to criticize the proposed reversing of the Ingolstadt pipeline and to warn against Russian participation in energy privatization. CEO Martin Roman and his Russian-friendly team at ČEZ will be among the biggest beneficiaries of an ODS-ČSSD back-scratching agreement. Paroubek is increasingly on the ČEZ bandwagon and can't allow a loose cannon like Vondra to upset the well-laid plans for the future.[Czech Republic Sáša United States of America electricity]