Jiri Paroubek attends European Socialists meeting

Outgoing Czech prime minister and Social Democratic Party chairman Jiri Paroubek is attending a summit of European Socialists in Brussels. Mr. Paroubek told reporters that he will complain to his European socialist party colleagues about what he feels was a lack of support from them in the last days of the Czech election campaign. Mr. Paroubek says that an "anticommunist hysteria" gripped the Czech Republic just prior to the elections, and that European socialists could have done more to help the Social Democrats in the tight election race.

Among those also at the European Socialist Party (ESP) meeting are Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, the new chairman of the German Social Democrats, Kurt Beck, and European Parliament President Josep Borrell. The gathering is taking place on the eve of a European Union summit, and European Socialists are discussing EU enlargement, as well as the planned admission of Romania and Bulgaria.

President Vaclav Klaus will be representing the Czech Republic in Brussels at the EU summit. Before the elections, it was decided that if the Social Democrats lost, President Klaus would attend the summit.