Final Word from Tuesday, August 23, 2016

As Czech president, Václav Klaus was a big supporter of Turkish membership in the EU. In Oct. 2005 he said that Turkey could be a strong Czech ally within the EU and that he is sure that Turkish membership wouldn't create a threat of Islamization. He now openly admits that he promotes Turkish membership as a way to break up the EU. As Czech president, Miloš Zeman has been a big supporter of an EU army. A year ago, he said that such an army could be used to prevent refugees from crossing the borders. Perhaps in a decade he'll admit that he promoted the idea of an EU army as a way to weaken Nato. As Czech PM, Bohuslav Sobotka is a newcomer to the idea of an EU army. The coalition agreement states that the CR's security is based on Nato membership, but Sobotka said yesterday that this isn't enough. The U.S. won't carry the full burden for Europe forever, he said. Does Sobotka also want to weaken the existing structures, or is his support for an EU army perhaps a clever way to begin the process of removing Turkey from the Western security framework? [Czech Republic European Union military defense United States]