The CzechRepublic
takes over the rotating European Union presidency from France
on Thursday with several big issues to deal with, including a looming dispute
over gas supplies with Russia.
After months of preparatory work, the former communist country that joined the
E.U. in 2004 is ready for its six-month "endurance test," said Deputy
Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra.
In the past weeks, Czech officials have been battling concerns about their
ability to take the E.U. helm from France
amid the global economic crisis and after the successful French tenure
dominated by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The role of Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek as the E.U.'s president in
office will be all the more harder as Czech President Vaclav Klaus keeps
criticizing most things European in his speeches and statements.
Vondra said there was no point in setting too ambitious goals for the
presidency, which the CzechRepublic
enters with three priorities - energy security, external relations, and the
economy at the time of crisis.
"We will be glad if we manage to complete two specific things,"
Vondra said, pointing at energy security issues and the E.U.'s eastern
partnership.
Prague is now watching closely Moscow
and Kiev's efforts to strike a deal
over Ukraine's
$2 billion of unpaid gas debts.
Russian energy giant Gazprom OAO (OGZPY) has warned it will cut off supplies to
Ukraine if the
debt isn't settled, saying a new contract needs to be signed by Jan. 1 and no
deal can be inked without the money being paid.
A cut in deliveries could even hit west European consumers, who receive Russian
gas that transits across Ukraine
and were affected by a similar dispute in January 2006.
Topolanek said in a recent interview he was concerned about such unexpected
crises in particular. "I am sure some unexpected events will come,"
he warned.
In the case of a crisis, a "small European country" such as the CzechRepublic, which was a member of the
Moscow-led bloc during its communist past, finds it difficult to make the
Russian giant listen, Vondra said.
The Czech position for talks with Russia
has also been weakened due to recent tensions over U.S.
plans to build part of an antimissile shield, perceived as a threat by Moscow,
on the Czech territory.
But the CzechRepublic
is still planning to organize an E.U.-Russia summit during the first half of
2009.
Energy security will also be an issue at a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers,
scheduled to take place in Prague
on Jan. 8, which will be the first meeting held within Prague's
E.U. presidency.
In mid-December, Prague announced
it would also like to host an E.U.-Israel summit side by side with an
E.U.-Palestine summit, without giving the date.
These two summits have gained urgency after Israel's
begun air strikes on the Gaza Strip, which have so far claimed the lives of
more than 360 Palestinians.
During their tenure, the Czechs are also hoping to host the first E.U. summit
with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, to start a rapprochement process with
former Soviet countries Ukraine,
Belarus, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia
and Moldova,
and continue the E.U. integration process in commemoration of the 2004
enlargement they were a part of.