Foreign minister says Czech no more eurosceptic than any other EU member

In an interview with French paper Le Monde on Saturday, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said that he did not agree with the way his country had been portrayed in the European press in the last week, saying that Czechs were no more eurosceptic than any other nation in Europe. Mr Schwarzenberg said that President Klaus may be known abroad for his euroscepticism, but it was not the president, it was the government, which decided upon foreign policy. The Czech foreign minister said he was wary of Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to increase the power of the Eurogroup during the Czech Republic’s EU presidency – saying that any move which split the union up into ‘old Europe’ and ‘New Europe’ could not lead to overall solidarity.

Author: Rosie Johnston