Press Advisories

19. 5. 200715:00

Mirek Topolánek To Meet Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London in June

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek of the Czech Republic will visit London on June 13. According to available information, he is expected to meet the outgoing British Prime Minister and Labour leader Tony Blair during his one-day visit.

Topolánek has already announced that he plans to consult the scheduled institutional changes of the “27“ with the leading European leaders, including Blair, before the June EU summit. When meeting the British leader, the Czech Premier is also expected to discuss with him the American plans to build a radar base in the Czech territory.

Last week, the British Prime Minister announced he would be leaving Downing Street on June 27, after ten years in office. Under his leadership, the Labour Party has won three general elections, but now is facing declining popularity primarily due to Britain’s engagement in Iraq side by side the United States. Blair is expected to be replaced in the post of Party leader and Head of Government by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.

Earlier this year, in March, Tony Blair, who came to the Czech Republic to support the leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party Jiøí Paroubek before last year’s general elections, commented - tongue in cheek - the confirmed alliance between the British Conservative opposition and Topolánek´s ODS in the European Parliament. In a remark addressed to the leader of the British Conservatives David Cameron, Blair was quoted as saying: “He wants to create an alliance with a party that believes global warming is a false myth but he does not want to enter the same political hall with the German Chancellor who leads a conservative party, chairs the European Union, and believes that something has to be done with global warming.“

In this way, Blair singled out the existing discrepancy between Cameron’s “green“ policy on the one hand and the scepticism of the top-ranking ODS officials concerning the issue of global warming on the other.

Mirek Topolánek, then still leader of the strongest Czech opposition party, met Blair in London in April last year. They discussed primarily preparations for the Czech presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2009.

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