Final Word from Friday, September 5, 2008
Many a Klaus-watcher exclaimed "I told you so!" when PPF won a few court cases this week against oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Others explain Václav Klaus's seeming Russian bias in the Georgia conflict as a sign that he's a "pro-Russian agent," according to Alexandr Mitrofanov of Právo, although Mitrofanov added that Klaus's statements don't bear this out. Erik Tabery of Respekt wondered whether Klaus has undisclosed contacts to Russian politicians. Jan Urban wrote on Aktualne that Klaus was inexplicably against diversifying the CR's oil supplies away from Russia in the early-1990s (but now willingly takes credit for the IKL pipeline). How does Klaus rate his own performance with regard to Russia? "I'm not aware," he told Ekonom, "that I've ever evaluated Russia in any way." With regard to Georgia, he said he merely protested against the one-sided charge that Russia caused the conflict. Like Russia itself, his true relation to the Big Bear remains an enigma.[Czech Republic Aktualne.cz Ingolstadt Kralupy]
Glossary of difficult words
Oleg Deripaska - Russia's richest man;
seeming - appearing to be real or true, but not necessarily being so;
bias - prejudice in favor (or against) one thing compared to another;
Právo - see the issue from Aug. 28, Page 6;
to bear something out - to support or confirm something;
inexplicably - in a way that cannot be explained or accounted for;
Big Bear - a nickname for Russia;
enigma - a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling or difficult to understand.