Page 8 - bne IntelliNews Georgia country report November 2017

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November 11, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
in the bloc, he has none – or hasn't expressed it if he does.
This limp endorsement of the nation's EU mem- bership could be decisive when it comes to deci- sions that will or won't open the way to a Czexit. Zeman, crucially, wants a referendum. Though also claiming to be in the Remain camp, the president in true populist style says the matter is far too important to simply leave to the politicians.
To open the way to such a momentous vote, a ref- erendum law will first have to be passed by par- liament. On this point, Babis this week told Czech newspapers that the country needs a referendum law but only with a guarantee that the decision- making it would introduce can not be exposed to manipulation. The Pirate Party (22 MPs), mean- while, though very pro-EU in their appeal to the younger generations, stood on a platform calling for elements of direct democracy such as referen- da, so if Ano introduces referendum legislation it seems certain that the votes will be there. Pundits may then only feel more confident that the Czechs will vote to stick with the EU should a wheel come off the UK's Brexit process.
Clear as mud
The journey that Czechia is about to embark upon is as clear as mud. But for those determined to
see the way ahead there were a couple of other tantalising clues to factor in this week.
European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Ano member Vera Jourova, stepped into the EU membership debate stating that Babis is certainly not anti-European but had adopted positions on the election trail that he thought voters wanted to hear. Advocating a policy in which Czechia would state firmly that it wanted to eventually adopt the euro, she said it would be important for the country
to get as near as possible to the EU mainstream.
Also in the news was Martin Stropnicky, a popular actor who since 2014 has served as defence minister and has helped to put a human face on Ano and Babis. Some analysts see Stropnicky
as an unyielding advocate of Euro-Atlantic ties
and a passionate opponent of nefarious activities of the Kremlin, but to others he comes across, politically, as rather bland. Various commentators had him pencilled in to be foreign minister in
the new government but on November 2 Babis informed Lidove noviny daily (one of his titles) that Stropnicky might instead be made culture minister.
And for that all important foreign minister's port- folio? The latest betting was on Hynek Kmonicek, current Czech ambassador to Washington – and foreign policy adviser to Zeman.
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