Czech press survey - November 28

Strictly speaking, two countries are to join the EU: Iceland and Croatia. However, their entry is taken for granted as they are prepared for it, Komarek writes.

Some will say this is punishment for the fact that the Czech left wing toppled the government halfway through the Czech EU presidency in the spring.

Others will consider the portfolio a sad consequence of Czech President Vaclav Klaus's opposition to the ratification of the Lisbon treaty and his attacks against the EU in general, Komarek writes.

A political analyst may find yet another reason: Fuele is not a really influential personality in politics.

EU President Jose Barroso would definitely prefer to have Czech former prime minister Mirek Topolanek or current PM Jan Fischer in the EC, Komarek says, adding that both Topolanek and Fischer were considering their candidacy for the post of commissioner.

But it is not really important what portfolio the Czech EU commissioner will have because there is no place for nationalism in the EC. The commissioners even promise that they will represent Europe as such, Komarek writes.

It is not important whether the Czechs will push through their interests through a Czech, Greek or Bulgarian commissioner, Komarek says.

The Czechs should be interested in more in just Stefan Fuele because the whole lineup of the European Commission is more important that Fuele's portfolio, Martin Weiss writes in Lidove noviny.

One can agree with the view that the post of commissioner for EU enlargement is a success, Weiss says.

The Czech Republic has not been punished for Klaus's revolt against the Lisbon treaty, he writes.

Klaus signed the Lisbon treaty earlier this month as the last European president only after the Czech government and then a EU summit nodded to his demand for an exemption from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights for Czechs.

One thing that is noteworthy in the European Commission is the strong position of Belgium.

Belgians have experience with maintaining their stage through backstage bargaining and they support Germany and France.

Belgian prime minister Herman Van Rompuy has become first EU President and Belgium will get international trade, one of the key portfolios, Weiss says.

The area that is really crucial for the Czech Republic is energy policy, which Latvia will hand over to Germany, Weiss writes.

The Wall Street Journal wrote on Friday that the U.S. administration will not criticise the German-Russian gas pipeline project Nordstream that bypasses central Europe

The Czech state will lose its option to buy Czech gas distributor Transgas owned by German company RWE on New Year, Weiss notes.

Our energy security will move to German hands to a great extent, Weiss concludes.

About half of Czech citizens tend to support the right wing but a big part of them has often had problem to find a party to vote for without reservations or even shame, Martin Hekrdla writes in Pravo.

These people, dissatisfied with pragmatic economist Vaclav Klaus in the early 1990s liked the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) whose leader Jan Kalvoda smoked a pipe like the aristocrat and TOP 09 leader Karel Schwarzenberg, pretending that he offers an alternative to Klaus, Hekrdla writes.

These people then supported the Freedom Union (US-DEU) of former dissident Jan Ruml in the late 1990s when it turned out that the ruling right-wing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of Klaus had hidden sponsors.

When Klaus as president and a part of the ODS started preaching against climate change and the environmentalists as well as against the European Union, these people voted for the Green Party (SZ) that entered parliament in 2006 for the first time, Hekrdla writes.

The Greens are unlikely to enter parliament and the Freedom Union and the ODA are virtually non-existent.

At present, there is the conservative TOP 09 that organises its constituent congress on Friday and today.

TOP 09 is to be an alternative to the ODS that openly admits that dubious businessmen have control over its branches, Hekrdla writes.

Although the programme of TOP 09 does not present anything progressive, people will again support the new hopeful party, similarly as in the past, Hekrdla indicates.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz