Czech party warns of Prague-Berlin rift over EPP veto threat

By David Cronin

Date: 04/03/04

BERLIN-Prague relations could become severely strained if German centre-right MEPs carry out their threat to reject membership of the European Parliament's biggest group for allies of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, it has been warned.

While eight MPs from the Czech Civil Democrats (ODS) currently have observer status in the European People's Party and European Democrats (EPP-ED) group, deputies from the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) are indicating they will vote against full group membership for ODS representatives elected to the Parliament in June.

Jan Zahradil, the ODS' top candidate for next June's poll, argued such a move could "seriously damage everything that has been achieved in Czech-German relations over the last decade".

As European Voice reported last week, the CSU deputies are alarmed at the prospect of the ODS being part of the group because of harsh criticisms of the EU made by Klaus and his party colleagues. Markus Ferber, a MEP with the Bavarian party, described the ODS, as "anti-European and anti-democratic".

The CSU previously aroused the ire of many politicians in Prague, when its representatives in both the European Parliament and the Bundestag voted against Czech accession to the EU because the country has not revoked the so-called Benes decrees. These edicts led to the expulsion of 30,000 Hungarians from present-day Slovakia and 2.5 million Sudeten Germans from what is now Czech territory in 1945-46.

In Zahradil's view, the continued attacks on the ODS bode ill for Berlin-Prague ties due to the prospect his party could be in national government in the coming years and the CSU could form part of the German government with its allies the Christian Democrats.

He defended the non-revocation of the Benes decrees, contending they are in line with two post-war accords - the Paris Reparations Treaty and the Potsdam Treaty.

"The Paris Reparations Treaty stated that those countries which were victims of Nazi occupation could confiscate German property as a fee for war losses. From today's point of view, this might be perceived as problematic. But it cannot be seen from today's point of view, it can only be viewed from a 1945 perspective."

Annulling the decrees, he said, would be "legally risky" as it could lead to a plethora of court cases from people seeking property restitution.

British Conservative MEPs have voiced anger at remarks made by EPP-ED leader Hans-Gert Pöttering who said there is no guarantee the ODS would be accepted into the group after the June election.

Some Conservatives believe that conflicts with an agreement Pöttering signed with their party leader Michael Howard last month on how the group will be composed following the poll.

The agreement, seen by this paper, stated that MEPs from parties which currently belong to, or become, members of the European Democrat Union (EDU), a grouping of centre-right parties affiliated to the EPP-ED, "will be invited" to join the Parliamentary group. The ODS has been a member of the EDU since 1992.

The Conservatives are hoping the ODS will ideologically be kindred spirits within the ED wing of the group, providing a more Eurosceptic outlook.

"Our understanding is that they [the ODS] have an absolute right to join the ED element of the group, whatever the Germans say," remarked one Conservative deputy.

The Howard-Pöttering deal is due to be considered by the EPP-ED group at a 31 March meeting.