Final Word from Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Those who follow the Czech press closely already know that two days before he was elected to a top Nato post, Army Chief of Staff Petr Pavel warned in Právo that the CR risks being marginalized on the periphery of Nato if it continues to express doubts about the Alliance's response to the Ukraine crisis. You can bet your bottom dollar that, just as Bohuslav Sobotka's "enlargement veto for Russia" was picked up in Washington and Brussels, so was Pavel's "anti-veto." Whether Pavel's statement was a calculated move on his part to separate himself before the Nato vote from the perceived disloyalty of his political bosses isn't clear, but it apparently worked anyway. Sobotka also has reason to rejoice; one of his biggest critics was kicked upstairs, far away from daily Czech politics. Now if Sobotka could only find a similar cubbyhole for the other two main foreign-policy naysayers, Miroslav Kalousek and Karel Schwarzenberg. [Czech Republic North Atlantic Treaty Organization United States of America European Union Ukrainian]
Glossary of difficult words
to marginalize - to treat (a person, group or concept) as insignificant or peripheral;
to bet your bottom dollar - to be so sure about something that you can afford to bet your last money on it;
to pick something up - (in this context) to take notice of something; to register something;
cubbyhole - a small, enclosed compartment or room;
naysayer - one who opposes or denies;
Petr Pavel's comment for Právo:
Právo: Lidem se ale nelze divit, když účast Ruska na konfliktu relativizuje i prezident a vrchní velitel ozbrojených sil Zeman.
Pavel: Proto říkám, že české mínění není jednoznačné. Situace je pro nás nová a nebezpečná v tom, že bychom mohli sklouznout do pochybností a mohli bychom přestat být pevným spojencem. Podle mého bychom si měli vyhodnotit, na základě jakých hodnot jsme se přidali do Aliance, a tyto hodnoty postavit nad dílčí pochybnosti. Máme na vybranou. Buď budeme pevnou součástí Aliance a můžeme se spolehnout na pevné garance, anebo se svými postoji budeme stavět na periférii a pak musíme počítat, že odezva spojenců vůči nám bude jako k periférii.