Final Word from Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Václav Klaus said the transatlantic relationship with the U.S. is the CR's way of not putting all its eggs in one EU basket. As George W. Bush definitively enters his lame-duck period, it might be time for the CR to avoid putting too many of these eggs in Bush's basket. Bush has vowed to end visas for Czechs, but the question is whether he has the political capital left to achieve it. He met a crushing defeat last week on the related immigration issue. Now, Bill Clinton has come out against the second big U.S.-Czech issue, missile defense, calling it a colossal waste of money. This raises the chance that Congress will be the one that pulls the plug on it. September will apparently bring another blow to Bush, when he has to admit that his surge in Iraq has not succeeded. Bush is still the decider, but Czech officials might want to start sounding out Hillary, Obama, Mitt and Rudy on bilateral issues.[Czech Republic European Union United States of America radar Barak Romney Rudolph Giuliani visa-waiver]