Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has challenged the president to do a
number of one-on-one radio and TV debates with him on the European
Union. In an interview for the Frekvence 1 radio programme, the Social
Democrat prime minister, who is pro EU-integration, said he and the
president, who is strongly critical of the direction in which the EU is
heading, should put their arguments to the nation in a language that
people could understand. Debates at closed meetings or articles in the
media do not have the desired impact, Mr. Paroubek said. The daily
Lidove Noviny recently published a lengthy article in which President
Klaus presented his vision of a future Europe- an organization of
European states benefiting from free trade but not restricted in their
sovereignty.