Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09PRAGUE672
2009-11-13 15:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Prague
Cable title:  

WHAT LISBON REMINDS US ABOUT PRESIDENT KLAUS

Tags:  PGOV PREL EZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRAGUE 000672 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL EZ
SUBJECT: WHAT LISBON REMINDS US ABOUT PRESIDENT KLAUS

REF: A. PRAGUE 605

B. PRAGUE DAILY NOV 3

C. PRAGUE DAILY OCT 29

D. PRAGUE DAILY OCT 7

Classified By: CDA Mary Thompson-Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRAGUE 000672

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL EZ
SUBJECT: WHAT LISBON REMINDS US ABOUT PRESIDENT KLAUS

REF: A. PRAGUE 605

B. PRAGUE DAILY NOV 3

C. PRAGUE DAILY OCT 29

D. PRAGUE DAILY OCT 7

Classified By: CDA Mary Thompson-Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. With no more excuses or options for delay,
euroskeptic Czech President Klaus signed the Lisbon Treaty on
November 3, the same day as the Czech Constitutional Court
ruling. His signature eliminated a major distraction within
the EU, allowing the U.S. and EU to refocus on important
initiatives. Klaus supporters say that Lisbon shows that the
President sticks to his principles, though he has yielded
them in the past for political benefit (e.g., a deal in 2003
with the Communists to support his presidency). Others say
he is an obstructionist who maximizes his limited
constitutional powers as ceremonial head of state to exert
his considerable influence over public opinion. He is a
strong trans-Atlantic ally and will continue to be one, but
has made relations with Russia a top priority. While his
motives may be unclear, the Lisbon Treaty ratification
process illustrates that President Klaus marches to only one
tune - his own. END SUMMARY.

--------------
Klaus the Politician
--------------


2. (C) President Vaclav Klaus (age 68) is an economist by
trade and came to prominence after the Velvet Revolution when
he and a group of like-minded economists schooled in Western
economic thought (Klaus studied at Cornell in the late 1960s)
offered their services to the dissidents who were forming the
new government. In December 1989, Klaus became the Minister
of Finance. At a discussion at the London School of
Economics on November 3 of this year, former President Vaclav
Havel said that he should have trusted economists less and
put more emphasis on morals after the fall of communism.
While Havel did not mention names, Havel's negative
sentiments about Klaus are well-known in the Czech Republic.
Klaus, in turn, resents the attention still paid to
ex-President Havel even though he no longer holds office.


3. (C) Klaus also became Chairman of the Civic Forum party,
which subsequently dissolved in 1991, at which time Klaus
founded the right-of-center Civic Democrat Party (ODS).
Klaus was Prime Minister from 1992 to 1997 and oversaw the

Velvet Divorce with the Slovak Republic as well as
significant reforms. In December 2008, Klaus quit ODS after
his protege, Prague Mayor Pavel Bem, lost his bid to oust
then-PM Mirek Topolanek as ODS party Chairman. Although
Klaus cited ideological differences with ODS leadership, the
bitter personal animosity between Klaus and Topolanek was a
key factor.

--------------
Klaus the President
--------------


4. (SBU) Klaus is currently in his second (and
constitutionally final) term as President; he was first
elected in 2003 and reelected in 2008. In order to win
sufficient votes in both chambers of Parliament to become
President, Klaus cut a secret deal with the Communists in
which he agreed to allow the Communists to attend certain
events at Prague Castle. Havel, who was President from 1989
to 2003, banned the Communists from Prague Castle. The
President is not elected through a direct election but by an
absolute majority of both houses of Parliament - the Chamber
of Deputies and the Senate. As President, Klaus's role is
mostly ceremonial; Chapter 3 of the Czech Constitution says
the President shall:

-- appoint and recall the Prime Minister and other members
of government and accept their resignations;
-- convene sessions of the Chamber of Deputies;
-- dissolve the Chamber of Deputies (Note: only if one of
four conditions in Article 35 is met.);
-- call elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate
(Note: President sets date for elections.);
-- appoint Justices to the Supreme Court;
-- approve ambassadorial nominations;
-- negotiate and ratify international treaties, though he
may delegate to the Government;
-- be the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces;
-- have the right to grant amnesty.


5. (SBU) His approval ratings are usually high because of
his uncanny knack for connecting with the average Czech and
keeping public opinion on his side. He boasted a high-water
mark of 78 percent approval in 2005. Havel had a 90
percent-plus approval rating in 1990. However, according to

PRAGUE 00000672 002 OF 003


Czech pollsters and sociologists, simply holding the office
of President may well account for a 50 percent approval
rating. Klaus recently has fallen behind PM Fischer and
become the second most popular Czech politician, with an
approval rating of 61 percent in October 2009. Fischer's
approval rating in the same poll was 79 percent, beating
Klaus's previous top mark. But long term, Klaus is
considered the most popular politician in the Czech Republic.


6. (C) Some Czechs may be beginning to lose patience with
their President. According to political analysts, Klaus's
slight slip in popularity to 55 percent may be attributable
in part to the toppling of Topolanek's government this past
spring, an unpopular move. Insiders are sure he was pulling
the strings that brought down the government, but the public
only blamed him slightly, saving the majority of its ire for
parliamentarians and other party leaders. Klaus has since
rebounded to 61 percent popularity, unlike other politicians
who really took the brunt of the blame for the demise of the
government. Klaus has also created difficulties for the GoCR
within the EU because he has been slow to sign several
treaties - such as the accession to the International
Criminal Court (ICC),which sat on his desk from fall 2008
until July 9, 2009. Klaus's foot-dragging did not help Czech
credibility with EU partners as the Czechs were the last EU
member state to accede to the ICC.

--------------
The Lisbon Treaty and Klaus
--------------


7. (SBU) While Klaus remains a relatively popular
politician, he has many detractors. His supporters call him
principled and say he defends the interests of the Czech
nation well. His detractors call him narcissistic,
contrarian and obstructionist. Klaus is a notorious
euroskeptic who has not hesitated to publicly state his
objections to the Lisbon Treaty. He made clear that he
believed the Lisbon Treaty constituted a fundamental change
for the Czech Republic and a step in the wrong direction.
While a minority view, there are others who share the same
opinion.


8. (C) Most recently, however, he cited the possibility that
the Lisbon Treaty would allow Sudeten Germans to bypass Czech
courts and raise property claims arising from the Benes
decrees in the Court of Justice of the European Communities.
(Note: The Benes Decrees are "sacred cows" of Czech politics
that have been used before to raise a nationalistic scare,
conjuring images of Sudeten Germans swarming back over the
border. End Note.) Most lawyers and constitutional experts
agreed that the Benes Decrees could not be overturned because
the Charter of Fundamental Rights is not retroactive. Even
so, Klaus insisted on an opt-out from the Charter, despite
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso calling it
an "artificial barrier," and received an agreement from EU
political leaders. Ivo Slosarcik, of the Department of West
European Studies at Charles University and expert on the
Lisbon Treaty, told Emboff that the Constitutional Court
complaint and Klaus's maneuvers were never legal issues but
merely "political obstructions." Even though EU leaders were
furious with him, his political obstructions cost him no
support with the Czech public.

--------------
The Czech Constitution
--------------


9. (C) According to the Czech Constitution, the Czech
Parliament lacks the power to compel the Czech President to
sign a treaty or to override his decision not to. The only
way the President could be removed from office is if he was
prosecuted for high treason before the Constitutional Court
on the basis of an indictment by the Senate. Klaus clearly
understood his power under the Czech Constitution and took
full advantage of it, stringing out his resistance as long as
possible, as he did with the ICC treaty. The EU Protocol to
the Social Charter, an amendment to the original Social
Charter treaty that deals with the rights of employees, has
sat on his desk for four years. This behavior underscores
the President's powers under the Czech Constitution - he can
be pressured to sign a treaty but he cannot be compelled.

--------------
To Russia with Love
--------------


10. (SBU) Klaus advocates strong ties with Russia. While
the GoCR condemned Russia's military action in Georgia in
August 2008, Klaus raised questioned about what he considered
were the provocative actions of Georgia. Klaus also sided
with Russia when he publicly disagreed with Kosovo's
unilateral declaration of independence. Klaus met with

PRAGUE 00000672 003 OF 003


Russian President Medvedev in October 2009 to discuss
economic issues and signed several trade contracts. The
Russian media greeted Klaus warmly, especially after he noted
that an over-regulated EU is more of a threat to the Czech
Republic than Moscow. He went on to say that, "the political
system and freedom in Russia is now the highest and the best
in the history of Russia in the last two millennia." During
this trip, Klaus also presented Medvedev with a Russian
language version of his anti-global warming book, "Blue
Planet in Green Shackles," which was translated into the
Russian language at the expense of the Russian oil company
LUKOIL. Klaus also welcomed Russian participation in bidding
for a multi-billion dollar tender to build new Czech nuclear
power plants -- a tender for which the U.S. firm Westinghouse
is also competing.


11. (C) A Czech political scientist from Metropolitan
University explained Klaus's love of Russia, stating, "Having
attempted and failed to carve a pro-western niche for himself
- a political role that was occupied by Vaclav Havel - it was
only logical that he should turn towards Russia." Even
former President Havel himself commented that Klaus's
thinking stems from his maturation under the post-Prague
Spring "normalization" period, a time in which the autocratic
Czech regime depended on Moscow.

--------------
And Also the U.S.
--------------


12. (C) Even though Klaus was an outspoken critic of
military action in Iraq, Klaus is a strong trans-Atlanticist,
priding himself on good relations with the U.S. and visiting
frequently. In recent years, however, he has been frustrated
by his inability to gain access to the White House. Despite
heavy lobbying, the Bush Administration refused to see him
for several years because of his lack of support on Iraq,
finally acceding to a short visit in 2005. He fared better
with Vice President Biden, who agreed to meet Klaus on
November 6 during Klaus's trip to the U.S. Missile defense
showed Klaus's political acumen: he offered only cagey
support, deftly sidestepping an issue that was unpopular with
most Czechs and divisive in the government. He is usually
invited to speak when he goes to the U.S. and finds the Cato
Institute a willing host. He participated in a roundtable
discussion at the Ronald Reagan Library during his November
trip to the U.S.


13. (SBU) President Klaus will almost unfailingly meet with
American legislators and elected officials, both national and
state-level. Once he even took an hour to give a personal
tour of the Castle to an American old-timer's hockey team and
their spouses. An aficionado of jazz, Klaus opened up the
Castle to his "Jazz in the Castle" evenings, which frequently
showcase American musicians.

--------------
Comment: Euroskeptic and Trans-Atlanticist
--------------


14. (C) Klaus's final term as President expires in January
2013; until then, he will use his bully pulpit and popularity
to sway Czech public opinion. His acts may be small - like
when he refused to fly the EU flag over Prague Castle during
the Czech's EU Presidency - or large, like holding out on the
Lisbon Treaty. A savvy political analyst said that the
rancor Klaus caused over the Lisbon Treaty and the ire it
brought upon him probably added years to Klaus's life.
Indeed, he does live for the attention and truly enjoys being
a euroskeptic. It did not take EU leaders long to figure out
that pressuring Klaus was a counterproductive strategy.
While he may not always sidle up to U.S. policy and move for
greater engagement with Russia, we can be relatively sure
that he will continue to be a strong trans-Atlantic ally who
extends invitations to Prague Castle. End Comment.
Thompson-Jones