Czech Government Collapses Amidst Turmoil

The Czech government lost a close vote in parliament on Tuesday, March 24 by only one vote. Mirek Topolanek, the current Prime minister of the Czech Republic, blamed the Social Democrats for the recent struggling stating "we have a case here the Social Democrats are obstructing the Czech government. It's a problem seen many times in the course of this presidency."

The Czech government lost the vote when four rebel MPs voted with Communists and the opposition. Topolanek said he will step down after returning from Strasbourg, but promises a caretaker government will not be established until June.

The power has now shifted to Czech President Vaclav Klaus who must decide whether to ask Topolanek to continue forming the government or he has the ability to ask someone else to help.

According to the BBC, a day after the collapse Topolanek promised the European Parliament the fall of the government will have no effect on the current presidency of the European Union which the Czech government holds until July 1. He said "don't be concerned, the situation will have no impact on the presidency." The country gained the presidency of the EU in January which is a six month term. Mr. Topolanek added "what we are trying to do is to animate the debate and arrive at compromises. I hope that when we come to the last European summit we will be able to add an example."

A vote of confidence came from the European Parliament president, Hans-Gert Poettering, who stated the presidency of the EU shouldn't be affected despite the political struggles.

Topolanek has received harsh criticism from several members, especially from German MEP Martin Schulz who said "being here this morning shows you are a fighter, but so far you haven't understand what the task of the presidency of the EU is."

When the Czech government took control of the presidency on January 1, countries including France and Belgium, were unwilling to believe the Czech Republic could handle running EU meetings successfully. Concerns mounted regarding holding off ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, which must be agreed upon by all 27 member states before coming into effect. According to some Eurocrats, the biggest problem may not be the presidency of the EU, but the vote due shortly of the Lisbon Treaty. Because of the political struggles, it might be more difficult to pass the treaty. The concerns of France and Belgium also included pro-American views, numerous free-market liberals, and being too keen on enlargement.

A week prior to Topolanek losing the vote, the Czech government decided to withdraw their treaties on hosting defense U.S. radar. Former United States President George W. Bush's administration helped to establish a treaty with the Czech Republic to build a missile-defense system southwest of Prague to protect the country from any attacks especially Iran. The Bush administration worked closely with Poland to build an interceptor missile that was also part of the plan.

President Barack Obama plans to travel to Prague for the summit taking place April 3-4 and has stated the Czech government may not have to build the missile-defense system if Iran decides to give up their nuclear weapons program. Some European countries are hesitant to allowing the Czech government to work closely with the U.S., but these problems will be addressed shortly at the EU conference.

On top of all the problems surrounding Mr. Topolanek, he decided to make a statement that he may soon regret. He said "Timothy Geithner the Treasury Secretary of the United States talks about permanent action and we were quite alarmed by that at the spring council. He talks about a large stimulus campaign and the Buy America campaign all of these steps, their combination and their permanency, is a way to hell." This statement seems to add even more questions for Mr. Topolanek to answer.

Hopefully the turmoil surrounding the Czech Republic will have limited effect on the European Union presidency and the government can restore order quickly.