PM comes under fire for cautious stand on sanctions

The prime minister has come under fire on the home front for withholding full support for new EU sanctions against Russia. Deputy-prime minister Pavel Bělobrádek, leader of the Christian Democrats, said “we cannot do to Ukraine what the Munich Agreement did to us” while opposition TOP 09 deputy chairman Miroslav Kalousek said the prime minister’s stand was “short-sighted, alibistic and cowardly”. Czech MEPs have also criticized Mr. Sobotká’s cautious approach. MEP Luděk Niedermayer said that diplomacy alone would not suffice to make Russia observe international norms and pointed out that if everyone in the EU considered their economic interests first and foremost there would be no sanctions.