EU summit mentions Czech Klaus's name with sarcasm - Fico

The name of Klaus, a well-known critic of the EU's Lisbon treaty, was mentioned with a sarcastic tinge, Fico said.

The summit today chose Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as the first EU "president," who is to chair EU summits, while Catherine Ashton, the current British EU commissioner, will be the EU's first "foreign minister."

The chosen names are rather less impressive and less known personalities compared to certain candidates whose names were often discussed in the past weeks, including former British PM Tony Blair and Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker.

"There were definitely more of us who may have expected a world-known person in the post of European Council head," said Fico.

He said, nevertheless, that he does not feel disappointed at the choice of Van Rompuy.

There was an agreement that the "president" will be chosen by the European People's Party, the strongest centre-right faction, while the European socialists chose the EU's high commissioner for foreign and security policy, said Fico (Smer-Social Democracy).

"A discussion was held on who distinguished persons in the EU are...Excuse me, I'll tell it in the way it was presented. Even Vaclav Klaus's name was mentioned sarcastically as far as his publicity in the EU is concerned," Fico said.

Klaus is a well-known critic of the EU's political integration and also of the Lisbon treaty that introduces the two high EU posts.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz