Grumpy Uncle Vaclav

The article in The Economist about the Czech president Klaus

...Klaus may not have formal powers to muck up the Czech presidency. But he has already done it great harm by handing ammunition to EU countries that would love to shunt the Czechs to one side (read some European newspapers, and you would think Mr Klaus was the only political leader in Prague). That would be a shame, because the Czechs have some good ideas.
For a start, they are fervent free-marketeers. Their prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, calls the common agricultural policy “nonsensical”, and wants the EU to forge a “common energy policy” that would link internal grids and reduce European energy dependence on Russia. Mr Topolanek worries that EU diplomacy towards Russia has been “deformed” by some countries’ business interests. A firm Atlanticist, he has three large flags on display in his office: the Czech flag, the EU one and the blue-and-white standard of NATO. His government supports the installation of a radar base outside Prague for an American anti-missile shield that Russia has condemned (the Czech parliament is less keen). His EU presidency plans include a long-overdue push for Europe to pay much more attention to its eastern neighbours, such as Ukraine.