Final Word from Thursday, June 16, 2011
"Fellow citizens,As the unions initiate their strike today, I call on each of you to look around. Is therea crisis in this country? Are the international agencies slashing our credit rating? Arepeople sneaking their crowns over the border for fear of exchange controls? Is theunemployment rate approaching 20%? No. Anyone who takes a calm, sober glancearound will judge that there is no reason to organize a strike. At the same time, wemust accept that we are part of a Europe that is facing some of the very problems ofwhich I speak. We, the politicians and people of Europe, must accept that we havefundamentally failed to grasp to what degree our actions of the past are now threateningour future. While I disagree with today's strike, I fully respect the right of thepeople to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the current course of events."
Glossary of difficult words
What Klaus did not say - this is an allusion to the section by the same name (but in Czech) on Klaus’s web page (www.klaus.cz), where he corrects statements attributed to him;
to slash - to reduce (a price, quantity) greatly;
to sneak something - to convey something or someone in a furtive, secretive manner;
sober - serious, sensible and solemn.