Václav Klaus

Václav Klaus

Incumbent
Assumed office 
7 March 2003
Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla
Stanislav Gross
Jiří Paroubek
Mirek Topolánek
Jan Fischer
Petr Nečas
Preceded by Václav Havel[1]
Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
In office
17 July 1998 – 20 June 2002
Prime Minister Miloš Zeman
Preceded by Miloš Zeman
Succeeded by Lubomír Zaorálek
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
In office
1 January 1993 – 17 December 1997
President Václav Havel
Preceded by Office created
Succeeded by Josef Tošovský
In office
2 July 1992 – 31 December 1992
President Václav Havel
Preceded by Petr Pithart
Succeeded by Office abolished
Minister of Finance of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic
In office
10 December 1989 – 2 July 1992
Prime Minister Marián Čalfa
Preceded by Jan Stejskal
Succeeded by Jan Klak
Born 19 June 1941 (1941-06-19) (age 69)
Prague, Bohemia and Moravia, Germany (now Czech Republic)
Political party Independent (1991- 2009 Civic Democratic Party)
Spouse(s) Livia Mištinová
Children 2 sons
Alma mater University of Economics, Prague
Profession Economist
Religion Czechoslovak Hussite Church[2]
Signature
Website www.klaus.cz

Václav Klaus (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvaːtslaf ˈklaus]; born 19 June 1941) is the second President of the Czech Republic (since 2003, reelected 2008) and a former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (1992–1997). An economist by trade, he is co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party.[3][4] Klaus is a eurosceptic,[5][6] but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as president of his country.[7] He has been called "the Margaret Thatcher of Central Europe".[8]

Contents

Biography

Klaus grew up in the upper-middle class residential Vinohrady neighborhood of Prague and graduated from the University of Economics, Prague in 1963; he also spent some time at universities in Italy (1966) and Cornell University in the United States (1969).

During the Prague Spring he published articles on economics in the pro-reform, non-communist magazine Tvář (The Face) and the leading weekly Literární noviny. He then pursued a postgraduate academic career at the (state) Institute of Economics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, which he left (by his account, being forced out for political reasons) in 1970. He subsequently, from 1971 to 1986, held various positions at the Czechoslovak State Bank. In 1987 Klaus joined the Prognostics Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.

In 1995, as Prime Minister, he applied for and was awarded the degree of Professor of Finance from his alma mater, so he is sometimes addressed as "Mr. Professor" as is customary in the Czech Republic. As the president, Klaus occasionally teaches a seminar course in economics at the University of Economics. The course focuses on Klaus' free-market concerns.

Since 1990, Václav Klaus has received nearly 50 honorary degrees and published more than 20 books on various social, political, and economics subjects. Klaus is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society. He has published articles in the libertarian free-market Cato Journal. On May 28, 2008, Klaus gave the keynote address at an annual dinner hosted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market advocacy group in Washington, D.C., and received its Julian L. Simon Memorial Award.

Václav Klaus is married to Livia Rosamunda Klausová, a Slovak economist. During his Premiership, she was appointed to the board of the state-controlled bank Česká spořitelna. They have two sons, Václav (a private secondary school headmaster) and Jan (economist), and five grandchildren.[3]

It has been claimed that Klaus has had several extramarital affairs. The first, in 1991, was with Eva Svobodová.[9] In summer 2002 Klaus was photographed by a tabloid as having a "special relationship" with 24 year old economy student Klára Lohniská; this was treated by both the press and the public with remarkable sympathy.[10] One paper claimed he spent the night after his second presidential inauguration (7 March 2008) with 25 year old Petra Bednářová.[11]

In his youth, Klaus used to play basketball and minor-league volleyball. Before his recent hip operation he was an active tennis player and skier.[3]

Klaus became the foreign member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2009.[12]

Klaus the economist

His defining issue since 1990 has been a vocal enthusiasm for the free market economy as exemplified by Friedrich Hayek. According to Klaus, legislation and institutions cannot be created before economic transformation, they have to go hand in hand.[13]

Rise to Premiership

Václav Klaus entered politics during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. He came to the offices of the Civic Forum (OF) during the second week of the Revolution along with other economists who offered their technical expertise to the OF. He became Czechoslovakia's Minister of Finance in the "government of national unity" on 10 December 1989. In October 1990, Klaus was elected the OF's chairman by regional deputies despite the wish of the Prague dissidents who created it, prefiguring its split and founding of other political parties. Jiří Dienstbier, the Foreign Minister and leader of the OF deposed by Klaus, has said "While we were concerned with running the country, Klaus was concerned with building his own power through attacking us as 'elitist'. This is a tactic he has continued to this day.“ In April 1991 Klaus founded and became the chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (Občanská demokratická strana, ODS), one of the largest and most right-wing Czech parties as of 2009.

In June 1992, the ODS won the elections in the Czech Republic; but the winner in Slovakia was Vladimír Mečiar's nationalistic Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. It soon became apparent that Slovak demands for increased sovereignty were incompatible with the limited "viable federation" supported by the Czechs; both leaders assumed the premiership in their respective polities and quickly agreed, without a referendum, on a smooth division of Czechoslovakia and its assets under a caretaker federal government, later dubbed the Velvet Divorce.

Klaus continued as Prime Minister after the 1996 election, but the ODS's win was much narrower. He was later forced to resign[14] in November 1997 after a government crisis caused by an ODS funding scandal, an event quickly dubbed "Sarajevo Assassination" (sarajevský atentát, in analogy with the one that started the First World War) by his sympathisers, because the calls for him to resign occurred during his visit to Sarajevo.

Then President Václav Havel publicly referred to Klaus' economic policies as "gangster capitalism" and blamed the prime minister for corruption surrounding his policy of voucher privatization and his cadre of close allies such as the dentist, politician, and entrepreneur Miroslav Macek.[15]

Defeats

Klaus, stunned for a moment by his downfall, quickly rallied forces to fight. At the mid-December IX. congress, he was confirmed as chairman by 227 votes of 312 delegates; the defeated faction left ODS and in early 1998 established a new party named Freedom Union (Unie svobody, US) with president Václav Havel's unconcealed sympathies.

The ODS lost the early elections in 1998 to Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). Still, the results (unlike any following) would have allowed both parties to create a safe majority with smaller center parties. However, US chairman Jan Ruml refused to support ČSSD on principle, and there was too much distrust of "traitors" in ODS. To general surprise, Klaus struck an "opposition agreement" (opoziční smlouva) with ČSSD chairman Miloš Zeman, his traditional foe, though both also had much mutual respect: ODS tolerated Zeman's minority government in exchange for a share of control of positions and privatization revenue, including the Speaker of Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic for Klaus, with hints of possible prolongation after turnaround in future election.[16] The Opposition Agreement led to public demonstrations, particularly against the attempt to make Czech Television more subservient to the main parties. This, in turn, caused Zeman to announce that he would not stand again for the post of prime minister.

ODS went to the elections of June 2002 relying on Klaus's image. At the polls, he was defeated by ČSSD's new leader Vladimír Špidla, who had explicitly rejected the opposition agreement. Eventually, Špidla created a left-center coalition. After long hesitation, and having suffered a loss in the October Senate elections, Klaus didn't run for re-election at the December congress (which declared him honorary chairman).[17] Against his wishes, he was succeeded by Mirek Topolánek,[18] with whom his relations remain strained.

Presidency

Standard of the President of the Czech Republic
For more details on election procedure and strategies, see President of the Czech Republic #Electoral procedure.

Having lost two general elections in a row, Klaus' hold on the ODS appeared to become weaker, and he announced his intention to step down from the leadership and run for President to succeed Václav Havel, who had been one of his greatest political opponents. This was taken by many to be a graceful way of retiring. However, the governing coalition, buffeted especially by feuds within ČSSD, was unable to agree on a common candidate to oppose him.

Klaus was elected President of the Czech Republic by secret ballot of the parliament on 28 February 2003 after two failed elections earlier in the month, in the third round of the election (both chambers vote on two top candidates jointly). He won with a majority of 142 votes out of 281.

Vetos

Although Klaus regularly criticized Havel for having used his power to veto laws, and promised restraint, he exercises his veto rather more frequently than Havel,[19] generally labeling vetoed bills as illiberal, 'dangerous' and a threat to the country. His 'libertarian' approach does not seem to extend to homosexuals.[20] He vetoed the Anti-Discrimination Law passed by parliament in 2008, saying it's a dangerous threat to personal freedoms as well as the bill implementing EU's Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals policy claiming it to be burdensome for private enterprises.

Eurosceptic beliefs

Klaus' euroscepticism, perhaps along with his scepticism about anthropogenic climate change, is the defining policy position of his presidency. He claimed that accession to the Union represented a significant reduction of Czech sovereignty and he chose not to give any recommendation before the 2003 accession referendum (77% voted yes).

Klaus' Eurosceptic activism has involved writing many articles and giving many speeches against any sharing of sovereignty with the EU. He secured the publication of a work by the Irish Eurosceptic Anthony Coughlan. In 2005 Klaus called for the EU to be "scrapped" and replaced by a free trade area to be called the "Organisation of European States." He also attacked the EU as undermining freedom and being as big a threat as the Soviet Union.

In 2005 he remarked to a group of visiting U.S. politicians that the EU was a "failed and bankrupt entity."

Václav Klaus with Boris Tadić during the state visit to Serbia in 2008.

In November 2008 during his stay in Ireland after a state visit, he held a joint press conference with Declan Ganley, head of Libertas, which successfully campaigned for a No vote in the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Irish ministers called this "an inappropriate intervention", "unusual and disappointing".[21]

Another incident happened on December 5, 2008. Members of the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament visited the Czech Republic prior to the start of the Czech presidency of the European Union, and met Václav Klaus at Prague Castle. Daniel Cohn-Bendit, chairman of Green Group, brought a European flag and presented it to Klaus.[22] Cohn-Bendit also said that he did not care about Klaus' opinions on the Treaty of Lisbon, that Klaus would simply have to sign it (although, under Czech law, the President is not obliged to follow the resolution of Parliament). Further, Brian Crowley told Klaus that the Irish wanted ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and were insulted by Klaus' association with Declan Ganley and the lobby group Libertas. Klaus responded that "the biggest insult to the Irish people is not to accept the result of the referendum".[23] Crowley replied, "You will not tell me what the Irish think. As an Irishman, I know it best."[23] This visit was criticized by some in the media: "This bizarre confrontation...confirms the inability of the Euro-elite to accept that anyone holds different views from their own."[22]

Lisbon treaty

Klaus long refused to sign the Lisbon treaty, being the last to give his signature. European leaders however made clear that they would not let Klaus "hold them hostage".[7] Jan Fischer, Czech prime minister was confident Klaus will sign the treaty, saying: "There is no reason for anxiety in Europe. The question isn’t Yes or No, it’s only when.” of the ratification process.[24]

As early as 2008 Klaus said, as he repeated in an interview with Czech television in November 2008:

“ "I can only can repeat aloud one of my verdicts. If indeed all agree that the Lisbon Treaty is a 'golden nut' for Europe, that it must exist, and that there is one single person who would block it, and that person is the Czech president, so that is what I will not do. That is all." ”

(in Czech original: "Já mohu nahlas opakovat jeden svůj výrok. Pokud by opravdu všichni se shodli, že Lisabonská smlouva je takové zlaté ořechové pro Evropu, že být musí, že je jedna jediná osoba, která by ji chtěla zablokovat, a tou osobou je český prezident, tak toto já neudělám. To je všechno.")[25]

On November 3, 2009, shortly after the Constitutional Court's verdict, Klaus signed the Lisbon treaty. However, there is a discussion whether he really holds the power to "dictate" his views upon the Czech society and politics:[26]

“ In spite of Klaus' declarations, the Lisbon treaty remains approved, ratified by the Czech Parliament including the Charter of Fundamental Rights. So that's the way how Czechia will be adhering to the treaty.
If Czechs really would want the opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Czech Parliament would have to vote on it, because it would entail a change to the Constitution. Then, a constitutional majority would be needed to exclude the Charter of Fundamental rights from the Treaty for Czechia.
The Czechs are not living in a presidential dictatorship or in a presidential system, so the president cannot exclude Parliament from this decision. Even if Klaus already asked the Government to negotiate the opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, there is no way that he could decide these things, as this is a Parliament's matter according to the Czech constitution.
--Jan Macháček, Czech journalist with Respekt, in an interview with Czech Radio, 3 November 2009		 ”

Moreover, art. 345 of the Treaty (same as art. 295 of the Treaty establishing the European Community), which informed Czech politians see as guarantee that “no property disputes may be re-opened by the Treaty”,[27] holds that:

“ The Treaties shall in no way prejudice the rules in Member States governing the system of property ownership. ”

Russia

Klaus with U.S. President Barack Obama in Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Klaus has reversed Havel's policy of avoiding many countries like China. His first major visit was to Russia and in 2006 he hosted Vladimir Putin. Klaus received the 2007 Pushkin Medal for the promotion of Russian culture from Putin due to his use of Russian with Putin and with Russian diplomats.[28][29]

Klaus has tried to cultivate friendly relationships with Russia and regularly defends it. He disagrees with harsh criticisms of recent developments in Russia, claiming that the situation is better than expected from a country with minimal democratic traditions.[30] After the August 2008 South Ossetia war broke out, he criticised Georgia for causing it and Russia for inappropriate reaction.

He has refused to comment on Russia's delay of a few days' oil supplies to the Czech Republic following the agreement of the Czech Government to the siting of an US radar on Czech soil.

In a May 2009 interview[31] for Lidové noviny, Klaus said Russia was not a threat but still a big, strong and ambitious country which the Czech authorities should beware more than the likes of Estonia and Lithuania should. A mistranslation by non-Czech journalists who translated “beware” as “pay more attention/respect” caused a diplomatic incident between Estonia and the Czech Republic.[32]

Kosovo

Václav Klaus has many times voiced his disagreement with the unilateral Kosovo declaration of independence. During his visit to Slovakia in March 2008, Klaus categorically rejected the argument that Kosovo was a special case and said that it set a precedent as the countries recognizing Kosovo opened a Pandora's box in Europe that could have disastrous consequences, comparing it to the 1938 Munich treaty.[33][34] When Serbia recalled its ambassador in protest of Czech government's recognition of Kosovo, he was invited to the Prague Castle for a friendly farewell.[35]

Re-election

The Czech Presidential election of 2008 differed from past ones in that the voting was on the record, rather than by secret ballot. This was a precondition demanded by most of the Czech political parties after the last experience, but long opposed by Klaus' Civic Democratic Party[36] which had strengthened since 2003, already had the safe majority in the Senate even by itself and needed only to secure a few votes in the House for the third round.

Klaus' opponent was the former émigré, naturalized United States citizen and University of Michigan economics professor Jan Švejnar.[37] He was nominated by Green Party as the pro-EU moderate candidate, gaining the support of the leading opposition Czech Social Democratic Party, a smaller part of KDU-ČSL and some independent Senators. The first ballot on February 8–9, 2008 resulted in no winner. Švejnar won the Chamber of Deputies, but Klaus led in the assembly as a whole and barely failed to achieve the requisite majority.[36]

The second ballot on Friday 15 February 2008 brought a new candidate MEP Jana Bobošíková, nominated by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. However not drawing any wider support, she withdrew her candidacy before the election itself.[37] The first and second rounds ended similarly to the previous weekend. However, Klaus consistently had 141 votes. Thus in the third round, where the only goal is to achieve a majority of all legislators present from both houses, Klaus won by the smallest possible margin. Švejnar received 111 votes, the 29 Communists voting for neither.[38]

Although the Presidency is not directly elected by the Czech citizenry, several public opinion polls suggested a level of ambiguity. Opinion seemed to sway from narrowly supporting Švejnar in January[39] to a dead heat,[40] and finally to narrowly supporting the incumbent a day before the first ballot.[37]

Klaus' first term as President concluded on Friday 7 March 2008; he took oath for the second term on the same day so as not to create a president-less interregnum since the Parliament could not otherwise come to a joint session before the following Tuesday. Thus, he lost the day of overlap and his second term will end on 6 March 2013.

Critic of anthropogenic global warming

Klaus is a vocal critic of the notion that any global warming is anthropogenic: "Global warming is a false myth and every serious person and scientist says so."[41] He has also criticized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a group of politicized scientists with one-sided opinions and one-sided assignments. He has said that other top-level politicians do not expose their doubts about global warming because "a whip of political correctness strangles their voices."[42]

In addition he says, "Environmentalism should belong in the social sciences" along with other "isms" such as communism, feminism, and liberalism. Klaus said that "environmentalism is a religion" and, in an answer to the questions of the U.S. Congressmen, a "modern counterpart of communism" that seeks to change peoples' habits and economic systems.[41]

In a June 2007 Financial Times article, Klaus called ambitious environmentalism "the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity", hinted that parts of the present political and scientific debate on the environment are suppressing freedom and democracy, and asked for readers opposing the term "scientific consensus", saying that "it is always achieved only by a loud minority, never by a silent majority".[43] In an online Q&A session following the article he wrote "Environmentalism, not preservation of nature (and of environment), is a leftist ideology... Environmentalism is indeed a vehicle for bringing us socialist government at the global level. Again, my life in communism makes me oversensitive in this respect."[44] He reiterated these statements at a showing of Martin Durkin's The Great Global Warming Swindle organised by his think tank CEP in June 2007, becoming the only head of state to endorse the film.[45] In November 2007 BBC World's Hardtalk Klaus called the interviewer "absolutely arrogant" for claiming that a scientific consensus embracing the bulk of the world had been reached on climate change and said that he was "absolutely certain" that people would look back in 30 years and thank him.[46]

At a September 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Klaus spoke of his disbelief in global warming, calling for a second IPCC to be set up to produce competing reports, and for countries to be left alone to set their priorities and prepare their own plans for the problem.[47]

In 2007, Klaus has published a book titled Modrá, nikoli zelená planeta[48] (Blue planet – not green) (The title in English, which is not a direct translation, is "Blue Planet in Green Shackles") which comes to the conclusion that:

“ The theory of global warming and the hypothesis on its causes, which has spread around massively nowadays, may be a bad theory, it may also be a valueless theory, but in any case it is a very dangerous theory ”

At the September 2009 UN Climate Change Conference, Klaus again voiced his disapproval, calling the gathering "propagandistic" and "undignified."[49]

Future plans

Klaus signalled his intention to increase his influence in Czech politics and hosted a series of meetings with ODS politicians intended to force Mirek Topolánek to resign from the leadership of the party and as Prime Minister. Klaus' candidate to replace him was Prague Mayor Pavel Bém who rose in the party due to Klaus's patronage. Bém, a psychiatrist by training, is personally close to Klaus and was at one point his personal doctor. On Sunday 9 November 2008, Bém said that he believes that the ODS should oppose the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, signalling that Klaus's anti-EU line would prevail if Bém took over the party.

On 7 December 2008, Bém stood against Topolánek for the post of ODS chairman at the ODS party congress.[50] Bém lost by 284 votes to 162,[50] and was replaced as first deputy chairman for the ODS by David Vodrážka.[50] Klaus had resigned as honorary ODS chairman the day before.[50]

State Awards

Country Awards[51] Date
 Austria Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Grand Star 5/2009
 Lithuania Order of Vytautas the Great Grand Cross 4/2009
 Poland Order of the White Eagle 7/2007
 Russia Medal of Pushkin 12/2007
 Saxony Saxon Merit Cross 5/2008
 Spain Order of Isabella the Catholic 1st Class 9/2004

Also see

References

  1. ↑ Životopis - Pražský hrad
  2. ↑ "Vlažné přijetí a ateismus Čechů, píší světové agentury". Týden.cz (originally ČTK). http://www.tyden.cz/rubriky/domaci/papez-v-cesku/vlazne-prijeti-a-ateismus-cechu-pisi-svetove-agentury_140667.html. Retrieved 2009-10-17. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Curriculum Vitae of Vaclav Klaus". Office of the President of the Republic. 2003-03-05. http://www.hrad.cz/cms/en/prezident_cr/klaus.shtml. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
  4. ↑ Klaus, Václav (2006-05-06). "The Threats to Liberty in the 21st century". Foundation for Economic Education. Archived from the original on 2008-06-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20080627184428/http://www.fee.org/publications/notes/notes/TheThreats.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-11. 
  5. ↑ EU leaders brush off Czech threat to Lisbon
  6. ↑ Lisbon Treaty: Czech president Vaclav Klaus sets new condition
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Klaus opposition to Lisbon ignored
  8. ↑ "Vaclav Klaus determined to weather the storm over Lisbon treaty veto". Roger Boyes. The Times. October 17, 2009.
  9. ↑ Charter, David (9 April 2008). "Vaclav Klaus admits having affair with airline attendant no 3". The Times (London). http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article3708869.ece. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  10. ↑ Hejma, Ondřej (5 February 2004). "Klausova milenka: Je to génius" (in Czech). iDnes.cz. http://revue.idnes.cz/lidicky.asp?c=A040204_144941_rozhovory_mat. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  11. ↑ "Václav Klaus nachytán s další blondýnou" (in Czech). Novinky.cz. 11 March 2008. http://novinky.cz/clanek/135132-vaclav-klaus-nachytan-s-dalsi-blondynou.html. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  12. ↑ Novi članovi SANU-a
  13. ↑ "Klaus: České banky dělaly před lety stejné chyby jako ty americké před krizí" (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. 11 November 2009. http://ekonomika.idnes.cz/klaus-ceske-banky-delaly-pred-lety-stejne-chyby-jako-ty-americke-pred-krizi-1uz-/ekonomika.asp?c=A091111_130125_ekonomika_vem. Retrieved 11 November 2009. 
  14. ↑ Richter, Jan (2008-02-07). "Václav Klaus: the experienced and predictable". Radio Prague. http://www.radio.cz/en/article/100524. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  15. ↑ Bilefsky, Dan. The New York Times. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/vaclav_klaus/index.html. 
  16. ↑ "Constitution Watch: A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR". East European Constitutional Review (New York University School of Law and Central European University) 7 (3). 1998. http://www.law.nyu.edu/eecr/vol7num3/constitutionwatch/czech.html. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  17. ↑ "XIII. kongres ODS" (in Czech). Občanská demokratická strana. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20080512021623/http://ods.cz/akce/kongres.php?No=13. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  18. ↑ Petržílková, Eva (2002-12-15). "Zprávy: Nástupcem Václava Klause v čele ODS se stal nečekaně Mirek Topolánek" (in Czech). Radio Prague. http://www.radio.cz/cz/zpravy/35558#2. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  19. ↑ Havlín, Tomáš (9 June 2006). "Klaus už překonal Havla. Vetoval víc zákonů" (in Czech). iDnes.cz. http://zpravy.idnes.cz/klaus-uz-prekonal-havla-vetoval-vic-zakonu-f26-/domaci.asp?c=A060609_124605_zahranicni_tha. Retrieved 9 November 2009. 
  20. ↑ White, Jeffrey (2006-03-08). "Hard to get a law by Václav Klaus". The Prague Post. Archived from the original on 2006-11-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20061117091629/http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2006/03/08/hard-to-get-a-law-by-vaclav-klaus.php. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  21. ↑ "Martin says Klaus comments on Lisbon 'inappropriate'". The Irish Times. November 12, 2008. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1112/breaking27.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-12. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Booker, Christopher (14 December 2008). "Czech leader in shock after EU assault". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/3757520/Czech-leader-in-shock-after-EU-assault.html. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 National Platform for EU Research & Information (7 December 2008). "Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner: Václav Klaus, Cohn-Bendit, Pöttering, Brian Crowley". http://www.nationalplatform.org/wordpress/?p=103. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  24. ↑ EU leaders brush off Czech threat to Lisbon, Financial Times, 7 October 2009
  25. ↑ Václav Klaus in: Lisbon traty will change the position of the Czech republic, in Czech: Klaus: Lisabonská smlouva změní postavení ČR, 25.11.2008, České noviny, news server of ČTK
  26. ↑ also in Jan Macháček's blog in Czech: O české výjimce a panovnickém systému, Respekt, 2 November 2009
  27. ↑ e.g. Zuzana Roithová, Czech KDU-ČSL deputy with the European People's Party group, as reported on 22 October 2009 in Czech on the European Parliament's web: “Odmítla, že by Lisabonská smlouva umožnila znovuotevření majetkových sporů, neboť to podle ní článek 345 této smlouvy přímo vylučuje.” [1], see also: entry Czech Republic in Ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon
  28. ↑ ČTK (2007-12-27). "Czech president receives Russian Pushkin Medal". http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=288494. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  29. ↑ Lazarová, Daniela (2007-12-27). "News: President Klaus receives Pushkin Medal". Radio Prague. http://www.radio.cz/en/news/99058#3. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  30. ↑ Burnett, David (2005-03-13). "10 Questions For Vaclav Klaus". Time (Time Inc.). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1037613,00.html. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  31. ↑ "Interview for Lidové Noviny". 2009-05-16. http://www.klaus.cz/klaus2/asp/clanek.asp?id=pMjdKgvT86mB. Retrieved 2009-10-08. 
  32. ↑ Rettman, Andrew (2009-05-25). "Tensions at EU-Russia Summit". BusinessWeek (McGraw-Hill). http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2009/gb20090525_636914.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-25. 
  33. ↑ "Kosovo threatens to cause split in Czech government". B92. 2008-03-25. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=03&dd=25&nav_id=48785. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  34. ↑ Dujisin, Zoltán (2008-03-14). "EUROPE: To Recognise Kosovo Or Not". Inter Press Service. http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41593. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  35. ↑ Česi ispratili ambasadora Srbije uz izvinjenja
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Larcom, Geoff (2008-02-14). "Prague's politics a sight to see". Ann Arbor News. http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/02/pragues_politics_a_sight_to_se.html. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Janicek, Karel (2008-02-15). "U-M prof loses bid for president of Czech Republic". Associated Press. http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/02/um_prof_loses_bid_for_presiden.html. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  38. ↑ "Klaus re-elected Czech president". Xinhua News Agency. 2008-02-15. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/16/content_7612647.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  39. ↑ ČTK (2008-01-11). "Czechs slightly prefer Svejnar to Klaus - poll". http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=290639. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  40. ↑ ČTK (2008-02-06). "Czechs divided on Klaus, Svejnar as future president - CVVM poll". http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=295382. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Barillas, Martin (2007-03-10). "Czech president: Environmentalism is a religion". Spero News. http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=128&id=8342. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  42. ↑ "Czech president derogates UN global-warming panel". m&c News. 9 February 2007. http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1261666.php. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  43. ↑ Klaus, Vaclav (13 June 2007). "Freedom, not climate, is at risk". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9deb730a-19ca-11dc-99c5-000b5df10621.html. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  44. ↑ "Global warming: truth or propaganda?". Financial Times. 21 June 2007. http://www.ft.com/klaus. Retrieved 9 January 2009. 
  45. ↑ "Klaus uvedl film o podvodu s globálním oteplováním" (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. 29 June 2007. http://zpravy.idnes.cz/domaci.asp?c=A070629_084140_domaci_mr. Retrieved 8 January 2009. 
  46. ↑ "BBC News Hardtalk: Vaclav Klaus". BBC News. 12 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7091092.stm. Retrieved 9 January 2009. 
  47. ↑ Václav Klaus (24 September 2007). "Notes for the speech of the President of the Czech Republic at the UN Climate Change Conference" (PDF). United Nations. http://www.un.org/webcast/climatechange/highlevel/2007/pdfs/czechrepublic-eng.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-08. 
  48. ↑ FAES - Planeta azul (no verde)
  49. ↑ "U.N. climate meeting was propaganda: Czech president". Reuters. 22 September 2009. http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE58L6ID20090922. 
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 "Breakfast Brief" (PDF). Prague Daily Monitor. 2008-12-09. http://praguemonitor.com/breakfastbrief/BB20081208.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-09. 
  51. ↑ "State Decorations". http://www.hrad.cz/en/president-of-the-cr/current-president-of-the-cr-vaclav-klaus/prizes-and-awards.shtml. Retrieved 17 August 2010. 

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Office created		 Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
1992–1997		 Succeeded by
Josef Tošovský
Preceded by
Miloš Zeman		 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
1998–2002		 Succeeded by
Lubomír Zaorálek
Preceded by
Václav Havel		 President of the Czech Republic
2003 – present		 Incumbent
Presidents of the Czech Republic
Flag of the president of the Czech Republic
Václav Havel · Václav Klaus
Flag of the president of the Czech Republic
Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic
Václav Klaus | Josef Tošovský | Miloš Zeman | Vladimír Špidla | Stanislav Gross | Jiří Paroubek | Mirek Topolánek | Jan Fischer | Petr Nečas
Coat of Arms of the Czech Republic
Speakers of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
Milan Uhde · Miloš Zeman · Václav Klaus · Lubomír Zaorálek · Miloslav Vlček · Miroslava Němcová (acting)
 Coat of arms of the Czech Republic
Heads of state of the European Union member states

Fischer (AT) · Albert II (BE) · Parvanov (BG) · Christofias (CY) · Klaus (CZ) · Margrethe II (DK) · Ilves (EE) · Halonen (FI) · Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (FR) · Wulff (DE) · Elizabeth II (GB) · Papoulias (GR) · Schmitt (HU) · Mhic Ghiolla Íosa (IE) · Napolitano (IT) · Zatlers (LV) · Grybauskaitė (LT) · Henri (LU) · Abela (MT) · Beatrix (NL) · Komorowski (PL) · Cavaco Silva (PT) · Băsescu (RO) · Gašparovič (SK) · Türk (SI) · Juan Carlos I (ES) · Carl XVI Gustaf (SE)
Acting heads of state shown in italics.
Chairmen of Civic Democratic Party
Klaus · Topolánek · Nečas