The Czech Republic remains very measured on the European political community project proposed by Emmanuel Macron in parallel with the discussions on the enlargement of the EU.
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While the Czech Republic and its Conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala is preparing, Friday 1 e e er July, to take for six months the rotating presidency of the European Union Council (EU ), following France, Emmanuel Macron counts on Prague to concretize his idea of a European political community (CPE), intended to “bring together partners on a continent”, beyond the EU. At the end of the last European Council, which was held in Brussels on June 23 and 24, the French president has already announced that would be held in the Czech capital, in October, “a first meeting” of this set ranging from ” Iceland in Ukraine “and many of whom are worried, in the east, that it actually consists in replacing an enlargement of the EU.
Fervent supporter of the entry of new members in the European grounds, the Czech Republic, who was part of the group of ex-communists adherent to the EU in 2004, is of certain interest to reassure the candidates. Strongly committed behind Ukraine, Prague has already announced that it would put the war and all its implications at the heart of its presidency, such as the difficulties of energy supply, the cost of reception of refugees or the reconstruction of the country.
But if Mr. Fiala has multiplied the cordial interviews with Mr. Macron, he has so far shown himself very discreet about his intentions concerning a project which revives for many, in the region, the bad memory of the Confederation European desired by François Mitterrand in 1989 in order to avoid an enlargement.
“A way of avoiding an enlargement”?
The Czech Prime Minister, renowned for his great prudence and his counted words, “said nothing in criticism or in support,” points out Peter Sokol, political scientist close to Mr. Fiala and member of his training, the Democratic Party civic (ODS). But, adds the latter, “we fear, as Czechs, that [the CPE] is a way of avoiding an enlargement to the countries of the Balkans and, perhaps, to Ukraine and Moldova”. The latter two officially, on June 23, joined the club of official candidates for integration.
More diplomatic, Mikulas Bek, the Minister of European Affairs, member of the Liberal and Proeuropian Party Stan, associated with the power coalition, affirms “to believe his French friends when they say that [the project] will not be a substitution for enlargement “. However, it remains very cautious about the capacity of the Prague summit, scheduled for October 6 and 7, to launch this new set.
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