Svoboda's visa defeat

ODS Chair Mirek Topolánek told Euro magazine that Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda (KDU-ČSL) is part of a plan to replace US- DEU in the ruling coalition with the Greens and, without Miroslav Kalousek at the helm of KDU, to carry on with ČSSD after the elections. Svoboda has been getting attention for trying to end U.S. and Canadian visas for Czechs, but the CR suffered a setback on Wed. when the U.S. Senate passed an amendment for making Poles - but not Czechs - eligible for the U.S.'s visa- waiver program. A key condition is that new visa-waiver countries have at least 300 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The CR has nearly as many as Poland on a per-capita basis, but only 200 in total. Not only does this show how truly valued the CR is by the U.S. as a member of the "coalition of the willing," but it is also a potential catastrophe for Svoboda and his political ambitions. [Czech Republic Canada]