Final Word from Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Let's assume for a moment that PM Petr Nečas truly wants to do more to clean up the Czech judicial system and to combat corruption. Perhaps he's under extreme pressure from Brussels to stem the flow of money into the outstretched hands of Czech crooks, big and small. Perhaps his chief goal is to appease the EU while staying in control of the cabinet and his own party, and maybe he's willing to install a less-than-perfect justice minister as a way to achieve this. It would be a balancing act of monumental proportions, given the big and little godfathers he would be up against and the amount of money and prison time at stake for some of them. Perhaps, as Jaroslav Plesl of Reflex suggested, ex-Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil is a false symbol of the anti-corruption battle and the real symbol is Nečas himself. Just maybe it was Nečas who insisted that Lenka Bradáčová be appointed as senior Prague state prosecutor.[Czech Republic European Union Pavel Blažek]
Glossary of difficult words
to stem - to stop or restrict (the flow of something);
to appease - to pacify or placate someone by acceding to his or her demands;
balancing act - an action or activity that requires a delicate balance between different situations or requirements.