Czech president's meeting with EU lawmakers ends in rift (Roundup)

Dec 5, 2008, 18:48 GMT

Prague - Czech President Vaclav Klaus' meeting with leaders of the European Parliament Friday ended in a rift, a transcript of the meeting released by his office showed.

The president, who is an outspoken critic of the European Union and its reform treaty, 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.'

According to the transcript, Cohn-Bendit first presented Klaus with an EU flag, which the president has so far refused to hang at his seat, Prague Castle.

The president's spokesman recently said the policy would not change during the Czech Republic's six months at the helm of the European Union.

The lawmaker, who was a student leader in the 1968 riots in France, went on an attack, the transcript showed.

'The Lisbon Treaty: I am not interested in your opinions. I want to know what you will do once it is approved by the lower house and the Senate,' Cohn-Bendit said.

He also asked Klaus how he could meet with Irish businessman and anti-EU activist Declan Ganley, who rallied opposition to the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland, when it was unclear 'who pays him'.

'I have to say that nobody has talked to me in such a manner and such a tone in six years (in office),' Klaus countered according to the transcript, adding: 'You are not on Paris barricades here.'

Klaus then asked European Parliament's President Hans-Gert Poettering to skip Cohn-Bendit's questions, which Poettering declined to do.

'No, we have plenty of time,' the transcript cited him as saying. 'My colleague will continue because anyone of us...can ask what they want.'

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.

The 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.

Poettering said in Prague on Friday that Klaus was welcome to visit the parliament in February. Premier Topolanek alone will address the parliament as the EU's new head in January.