Final Word from Tuesday, March 26, 2024
EU Affairs Min. Martin Dvořák (STAN) would support two of Pres. Petr Pavel's pet issues, giving up the EU veto and sending troops to Ukraine. Dvořák told Czech TV yesterday that now that the CR has finally earned a nice reputation thanks to the EU presidency and activities related to Ukraine and is suddenly a relevant player, it wouldn't be a good idea to brandish around our stubborn defiance to giving up the veto. His recommendation is to declare that we're prepared to discuss it. He didn't specifically mention the famous ammunition program for Ukraine, which is being credited to Petr Pavel. Yuri Shvets, a former KGB agent who is now a U.S. citizen and a big supporter of Ukraine, spoke about the munitions program in a Russian-language YouTube analysis last week. He said that he personally knows the arms traders who tracked down the shells and that Pavel had no role in it at all. He was merely given the opportunity to boost his political authority, Shvets said. Shvets didn't explain why, but it's not unreasonable to suspect that it has something to do with giving up the EU veto and sending Czechs troops to Ukraine. [ Czech Republic Television unanimous voting reform Schvets European Union army ]
Glossary of difficult words
pet - treated with special attention or evoking particularly strong feelings;
to brandish - to wave or flourish (something, esp. a weapon) as a threat or in anger or excitement;
stubborn - having or showing dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something, esp in spite of good reasons to do so;
defiance - open resistance; bold disobedience.