Final Word from Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Václav Klaus and others were wrong to assume that Karel Schwarzenberg is an Austrian. He lived there 41 years but carries Czech and Swiss passports. This mitigates the question of whether he should hold the sensitive post of foreign minister, but it doesn't change the overall role he's playing in the latest political dispute. Green Chair Martin Bursík apparently nominated Schwarzenberg mainly as a way to provoke Klaus. Just when it seemed a political solution was being found, Bursík came up with a near deal-stopper. Bursík's inflexibility has shown itself before, such as in his unwillingness to enter a government with Jiří Paroubek. In the short-term, Bursík's hardheadedness might win his party the foreign ministry. In the mid-term, though, it could be used as an excuse by ODS and ČSSD to change the electoral system. Bursík might be overplaying his hand.[Czech Republic Green Party election Switzerland Austia]