Czech hiccups
(BRUSSELS2) Between the Russian gas crisis and the conflict in the Middle East, the start of the Czech presidency with a bang was not without hiccups. The Israeli offensive in Gaza was thus initially reputed to be " defensive » and without « violence (nor) victims ». It took 24 hours for this "error" described as "personal" to be rectified. Same ignition delay during the Russian gas crisis. Qualified at the start as a “private dispute”, it took 48 hours, in the face of the worsening of the crisis and the cries of alarm from Eastern European leaders, for more energetic declarations to be made. " A big mistake ” estimates the Pole Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, president of the foreign committee of the EP. " 'Cause it was immediately clear it wasn't about business it was about big politics ". And on these two fairly predictable subjects, these errors cannot be put down to lack of preparation – the Czechs have been preparing for their presidency for two years – or ignorance of the subject. And one can wonder if this is not the reflection of a bias, rather unfavorable to autonomy of action of the EU. Conversely, we can estimate that, precisely, these next 24 weeks will be, for the Czech Republic, a salutary realization: that a more powerful and better integrated Europe is necessary and preferable to a simple market "without barriers" .
