The Czechia is at the forefront of Europe. Fiala did not want the opening of the presidency in Prague
The imaginary starting shot of the Czech half-year at the head of the Union fell in Litomyšl.
On Friday, Petr Fiala’s (ODS) government is negotiating symbolically outside Prague – that is, trying to draw the country’s attention to this extraordinary event – with the European Commission, a kind of EU government that provides the EU with a bureaucratic background.
The commission was brought to Litomyšl by its boss Ursula von den Leyenová. The Czech representative in this institution is Vice-President Věra Jourová.
According to the premiere, Litomyšl is a good example of how the Czechia wants to present itself in front of Europe and the world.
“It is a beautiful historic city with many monuments and cultural personalities, which at the same time managed to combine its historical wealth with modern architecture in a very successful way. And it is one of the smaller historic towns that really live, where you can see that rich history is connected with the present and the future, “Fiala explained to reporters the choice of a city of ten thousand in the Pardubice region at a press conference after the June EU summit.
Fial’s cabinet took over the preparations for the Czech presidency after last autumn’s elections, ie “in five minutes twelve”. The previous government of Andrej Babiš (ANO) planned most of the presidential events in Prague, Fiala had already announced a plan to move prestigious meetings outside the capital before the elections.
Ukraine and energy
The agenda and priorities of the Czech Presidency, ie the topics that Prague wants to promote at EU negotiations, were completely “dug up” by the war in Ukraine and the economic consequences of Russian aggression, especially in energy – enough energy resources for the coming winter at the time of necessary anti-Russian sanctions.
The Czech government also plans to hold a summit in October with the participation of the main states and governments of the 27, to which it will also invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenský. At the last EU summit in June, Europe’s leaders agreed that the Czechia should prepare a concept of rapprochement with like-minded but not European countries “from Ukraine to Iceland”.
The presidency of the European Council, as the European Council officially calls it, is weakened compared to 2009 by the fact that the Lisbon, ie the Union’s “constitution”, has established the position of permanent president of the European Council, with former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.
However, the presidency is still a great opportunity to promote a solution to the EU’s problems for each country, for the less heavy weights in particular.