ODS does not vote for EU

We want and we must accede to the European Union. A great majority of the Czech politicians claim that. Even if there are some things that we do not like about EU, there is no alternative to our membership. Even the Czech euro-sceptics, that is, those who had declared themselves to be euro-realists, were repeating this mantra until last week. Things have been different since Wednesday: At an election rally, Václav Klaus has clearly said, for the first time ever, that he was opposed to the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU - unless the Union guarantees us the validity of the „Decrees of Beneš“ by some kind of a special act. This is the greatest shift in the Czech position in relation to the European Union since the fall of the iron curtain.

The Young People of Klaus

So, this is the end of obscurities, rhetorical questions and vague formulations. Two months ago, in an interview for Mladá fronta Dnes, Václav Klaus was speaking about the threat of „revision of ownership rights and, after all, even territorial arrangement“ by Germany and Austria. In what does this threat consist? He refused to give an answer to this. Three weeks ago, at the beginning of the election campaign of ODS in Liberec, he warned that „we must not want to negotiate with Mr. Posselt, unlike some other people“. Whether he perceived Mr. Posselt as a member of the European Parliament or as the chief of the Sudeten-German Association of Compatriots, he spoke about a specific representative of specific partial institutions, about which some people really may not like some things. There is no accounting for tastes, is there? But now, when he stood up against accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union, he stood up against the most vital interest of this country, against its national interest, which he otherwise defends so passionately. Klaus has stopped being merely conceited, professor-like and old-man-like; he has become dangerous.

What follows from his hard stance for us and for Europe? Nothing good. We have three possibilities. Acceding the EU in no other way than with the Decrees of Beneš and a special contractual clause as an extra safeguard (this is what Klaus wants but what absolutely nobody in Brussels wants at present). Acceding the EU with the Decrees of Beneš along the same path followed up until now (this was intermediated by the Commissioner Günter Verheugen in Prague; this should satisfy the Czech demands but it is not enough for Klaus). Refraining from acceding to the EU and retaining the Decrees of Beneš (if the debate is escalated at the present pace and in the present tone, this is what the majority in Prague and in Brussels will want sooner or later).

It is interesting that in this case, Klaus did not primarily target his own ranks. The electors of ODS are pro-European, in spite of the statements of the party leaders. In this respect, they are not much different even from the electors of the party „Unie svobody“ (the Union of Freedom) so it is possible that the chairman of the House of Deputies tries to hunt on the hunting ground of the social democrats because their politicians, including those represented in the executive power, must criticise him whether they want or not. And they do so quite rationally. Jan Kavan emphasised especially the negotiating disadvantage of a special safeguarding clause (known as the „Klaus' safeguard“). Our agreement on accession to the EU would be different from the agreements of the other candidates so the parliaments of the individual membership countries, including Austria and Germany, would certainly discuss it separately and not as a part of the whole package. However, regardless of how it will turn out with the safeguarding clause, the officials in Brussels must have, already now, repeated to themselves the catch phrase from the years of the first Klaus' government: Does the Czech Republic accede to the EU or is it the other way around? What would satisfy the Czechs, for goodness sake, if they are not content with the word of Günter Verheugen? According to Jan Zahradil, they would be satisfied, for example, with assurance of the European Commission (one Commissioner is not enough?), with a resolution of the European Parliament or with „some kind of involvement in the accession negotiations“.

If Klaus does not primarily target the electors of ODS, there is also the question whether his primary interest concerns the Decrees of Beneš or the EU as such. When questions about national interests were asked even by children at the rally on Wednesday, the professor appreciated the „splendid young people in Prague 8“. When Klaus junior found out in a pub that of the total of 25 guests, 19 would have voted against accession to the EU and only 6 for accession, and sent this result to his father through a mobile phone, Klaus senior told the electors that he was „chuckling“ when he received this message. Is it about a fear that the results of World War II will be revised or is it about something else?

On a Wide Wave

But Klaus is not the only person concerned. It has now become apparent which issue has won the broadest political consensus in the Czech Republic. Commissioning of the nuclear power plant in Temelín? Condemnation of the Communist crimes? Accession to the EU? Not by a long chalk. The widest spectrum of politicians agrees on support of the Decrees of Beneš. The entire House of Deputies surfs on the national wave (having voted unanimously on the Decrees) together with the Communists lead by Grebeníček and, finally, even together with the president. Václav Havel does not have the „slightest reservation“ about the text approved by the parliament - even though the text does not mention a single word about, even if minimal, moral disavowal of the application of collective guilt. Well, unanimous voting of the National-Front type would not otherwise have been attained in the House of Deputies.