Estonia president slams Klaus over Russia remarks
(TALLINN) - Estonia's President Toomas Hendrik Ilves on Friday slammed his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus for suggesting the EU should pay more attention to Russia's interests than those of its own Baltic members.
"I believe I know President Klaus' words do not reflect the positions of the Czech people or the Czech government but I am surprised that such a regrettable phrase, which divides European countries into important and unimportant ones, were expressed by a Czech," Ilves told the Baltic News Service.
The Czech Republic currently holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation European Union.
The eurosceptic Klaus is much closer to Russia than many fellow leaders in ex-communist Europe, notably those in the EU's three Baltic states, which were directly under Moscow's rule until 1991 and have rocky relations with their former master.
"I don't see Russia as a threat but as a big, strong and ambitious country to which we must certainly pay more attention than to the likes of (EU members) Estonia and Lithuania," Klaus declared in the Czech daily Lidove Noviny ahead of talks with Moscow on Thursday and Friday.
The Estonian foreign ministry said it had summoned the Czech ambassador over Klaus' comments.
Ilves said he was all the more astounded by Klaus' comments because Czechs knew what it was like to be sidelined in favour of the giants, noting that in 1938 Western nations gave Nazi Germany carte blanche to carve up what was then Czechoslovakia.
EU-Russia relations were strained by Russia's war with Georgia and a gas-trade dispute with Ukraine. Estonia and Lithuania were among Russia's fiercest critics in both crises.
In Lithuania, President Valdas Adamkus said he found it hard to believe that Klaus had made the comments "because in official summits the Czech Republic has been respectful towards Lithuania".
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All based on a lie
This is what president Klaus said: "I don't see Russia as a threat but as a big, strong and ambitious country which we should beware of more than we need to beware of a small country such as for example Estonia and Lithuania."
The context (loosely): Klaus criticised those who like to demonise Russia and segregate it from the rest of the world. Then he said this sentence to soften his "pro-Russian stance" by acknowledging we should beware of it more than of other friendly countries.
Milan