Final Word from Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Karel Schwarzenberg said that when he took office as foreign minister, he asked for a review of Sudeten German claims against the Czech state and found that the Lisbon treaty didn't present any threat to the existing legal framework. For this reason, he said, there was no reason to ask for an opt-out to the EU bill of rights of the kind that Václav Klaus is now demanding. Klaus's team is doing a good job of suggesting that Schwarzenberg (and Martin Bursík) were intentionally opening the door to future German claims by failing to seek an opt-out. Schwarzenberg, after all, does have an adoptive sister seeking the return of assets. Remember, too, that it was Klaus who first objected to having a foreign minister with a foreign passport. Klaus's point-the-finger-at-the-foreigner tactic won't help him with his EU audience, but on the domestic level it's sure to keep him riding high in popularity.[Czech Republic Beneš Decrees restitution Green Party TOP 09]
Glossary of difficult words
Lex Schwarzenberg - the informal name of the law in 1947 used to confiscate assets of the Hluboká branch of the Schwarzenberg family;
opt-out - an instance of choosing not to participate in something;
foreigners - Schwarzenberg and his adoptive sister are in fact both Czech citizens;
to ride high - to be successful.