Final Word from Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Viewers of ČT24 might have been confused yesterday when Tomáš Prouza, the state secretary for EU affairs, said that setting a date for euro adoption isn't a current issue, given that a coalition partner is against it. Even the announcer, Tomáš Drahoňovský, did a double take, because PM Bohuslav Sobotka had said 10 days earlier that the CR shouldn't set a date until it is 100% ready. This contrasted sharply with his speech in Berlin in May of last year, where he declared internationally his goal of entry around 2020. So who is this "coalition partner" that says No to the euro? ČSSD? ANO, of course. Its chair, Andrej Babiš, bellows that as long as he is finance minister and Greece is in the eurozone, he will be against adoption. Miloš Zeman is now speaking in a similar way about Greece. By shifting his own stance on euro adoption for "economic reasons," Sobotka is trying to disguise the fact that he has lost this key battle to Zeman-Babiš. [Czech Republic European Union Czech TV Television]