Czech president's meeting with European lawmakers ends in a rift

Dec 5, 2008, 15:35 GMT

Prague - Czech President Vaclav Klaus's meeting with leaders of the European Parliament Friday ended in a rift, according to reports citing meeting's participants and Klaus' office.

The president, who is an outspoken critic of the European Union, was angered by questions from Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the head of the European Greens.

Klaus' aide told reporters after the meeting that the president 'considers Cohn-Bendit's behaviour a big provocation.'

Cohn-Bendit said that Klaus was infuriated by his question on his relationship to Irish businessman and anti-EU activist Declan Ganley, who successfully rallied opposition to the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland, aktualne.cz news web site reported.

The lawmaker described the meeting as 'cold' and 'mad', the news website said. The delegation also presented Klaus with a small EU flag, the report said.

The president is known for his refusal to hang the flag at his seat. His spokesman recently said the policy would not change during the Czech Republic's six months at the helm of the European Union.

As the country prepares to assume the rotating leadership of the EU on January 1, the government has faced questions whether the eurosceptic president would embarrass the Czech Republic and the European Union during the presidency.

Czech president's role however is largely ceremonial and the government agreed that Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek will represent the country as EU's president-in-office.

'The presidency will be conducted by the government, represented by the prime minister,' Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said.

The European Parliament head Hans-Gert Poettering said in Prague on Friday that Klaus was welcome to visit the parliament in February or March. But premier Topolanek alone will address the parliament as the EU's new head in January.