Czech President Not Attending Rome Conference on EU Constitution
Published:
2 October 2003 y., Thursday
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who is considered a euroskeptic, will not attend a meeting this weekend on a constitution for the soon-to-be-expanded European Union, his press office said Wednesday.
The Czech Republic will instead be represented at the so-called inter-governmental conference (IGC) in Rome that begins Saturday by Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla.
Klaus, a nationalist in the mold of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, opposes the text being drawn up under the leadership of former french president Valery Giscard d'Estaing.
Klaus regards the draft constitution as "a radical step" toward transforming Europe into a federalist state.
He had been invited to attend the Rome meeting against the wishes of his pro-EU government but decided Wednesday that he would not be going, while attending a government meeting on the Czech position at the IGC.
Klaus and Spidla talked about the Czech position for an hour Tuesday. The president has vowed to work to "safeguard structures so that we won't dissolve into a supranational melting pot."
The Czech Republic is one of 10 countries that also include Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia which will be joining the European Union in May.
Šaltinis:
AFP
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Lithuania took over the Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe today, with a focus on internal and external threats in the OSCE area, fostering democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, notably freedom of the media, promoting energy security in Europe and building upon synergies between regional organizations.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė says the decision taken by the European Council to amend the EU Treaty to provide for the establishment of a permanent support mechanism for crisis–stricken eurozone countries is very important for Lithuania.
more »
At the OSCE Summit, President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė met with President of the Kyrgyz Republic Roza Otunbayeva for a bilateral discussion.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė attending OSCE Summit in Astana had a conversation with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė positively assessed the European Commission's decision to include the integration of the Baltic Energy Market into the European market in the map of EU priorities.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė left to Lisbon to attend NATO Summit that starts today.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė congratulated President Valdis Zatlers of the Republic of Latvia and all Latvian people on Latvia's national holiday, the Independence Day.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė received letters of credence from the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Samad Ali Lakizadeh.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė received letters of credence from the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Ahmed Al Mahmood.
more »
As a response to the address made by representatives of Lithuania's culture community and civic society concerning the future of Kristijonas Donelaitis museum in Chistye Prudy in the Kaliningrad Oblast, President of the Republic of Lithuania D. Grybauskaitė sent a letter to President D. Medvedev of the Russian Federation.
more »