Final Word from Monday, April 8, 2013
Karel Schwarzenberg said in LN on Sat. that Miloš Zeman is using unusual practices in trying to install Livia Klausová as ambassador to Slovakia and that he, Schwarzenberg, is trying to prevent it. He went further in Právo and said that Zeman is trying to impose the mores of something approaching a presidential system. For this reason, he said, he must state up front that this is a blind alley. Then came a report in Právo that KJS might be prepared to accept Klausová as amb. to Slovakia and Vladimír Remek as envoy to Russia if Zeman sends Alexandr Vondra to Israel. This would be in keeping with Schwarzenberg's version of flexible Realpolitik. He initially adopts a tough, moralistic line and then gradually scales it back to an expedient compromise that is the inverse of his original position. This approach certainly won't stop Zeman, but at least it will get Schwarzenberg a nice posting for his old friend Saša Vondra.[Czech Republic customs manners Lidové noviny]
Glossary of difficult words
Realpolitik - politics based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations;
mores - the customs and conventions of a community;
blind alley - a course of action leading nowhere;
KJS - Karel Jan Schwarzenberg;
envoy - ambassador, emissary;
to scale back - to reduce something in size, number or extent;
expedient - convenient and practical, although possibly improper or immoral.