Born for Brussels

Mirek Topolánek might be turning out to be a better EU politician than Czech politician. Although some of the usual suspects, esp. Jiří Paroubek, have criticized the Czech PM for bungling the Gaza, Gazprom and economic crises, the consensus is that he's done a good job on at least the first two. He even hit it off with Vladimir Putin, whom Topolánek had called a neoimperialist. Topolánek told Czech TV that he talked with Putin about the U.S. radar during their tête-à-tête on Sat., but he refused to give details. It will be interesting to see if Topolánek's gung-ho stance on the radar now softens, as has his anti-Lisbon bias. If, as HN and Právo have suggested, Topolánek has his eye on an EU commissionership, a more EU- friendly approach to the radar might come in handy. There are signs (click here) that Europeans could turn more against the missile shield once George Bush leaves office. [Czech Republic Television tete-a-tete United States of America European Union Russia]