Category Archives: Czech politics

Václav Klaus live and unplugged

Posted on 27 April 2013 by

A few years ago I honestly told myself that I would spend less time academically on Czech right-wing politics and more time on other things. The world really did, after all, need some decent research about Central European interest groups … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, EU politics, Václav Klaus | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Václav Klaus: A political phenomenon without political power

Posted on 7 March 2013 by

In many ways a medium-sized Central European country like the Czech Republic could hardly have wished for a better president: an experienced, energetic and erudite politician of international standing able to engage both with the big European issues and handle … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, Václav Havel, Václav Klaus | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Czech democracy in the mirror: What the presidential elections tell us

Posted on 5 February 2013 by

The first direct elections of the Czech president offered a refreshing contrast to the back room manoeuvring and political horse-trading that accompanied the election in parliament of presidents Havel and (especially) Klaus. Despite the nastiness of the Zeman campaign and … Continue reading →

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Czech presidential elections: Schwarzenberg comeback sets up close run-off

Posted on 17 January 2013 by

Few observers, even a matter of weeks beforehand, would have predicted the success of the two candidates who will be contesting the second round run-off to choose the Czech Republic’s first directly elected president, which takes place on 25-26 January. … Continue reading →

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Why Miloš Zeman is the Czech comeback kid

Posted on 10 January 2013 by

 The political return of former Social Democrat leader and leading presidential hopeful Miloš Zeman has been one of the more surprising emerging-from-under-the -radar phenomena in Czech politics over the past couple of years.  For most observers of Czech politics Zeman … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What will Klaus do next?

Posted on 2 January 2013 by

What will Václav Klaus do next? This has been a pertinent question in Czech politics pretty much any time over the last twenty years and, of course, no more so than now: VK steps down from his second and final … Continue reading →

Posted in centre-right, Czech politics, Czech Republic, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Pussy Riot: Russia’s Plastic People?

Posted on 12 August 2012 by

The widely criticised detention and trial of the three members of the Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot, now awaiting verdicts in Moscow on charges of ‘hooliganism’ for an anti-Putin protest happening at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour has … Continue reading →

Posted in communism and post-communism, Czech politics, Russia, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Europe’s loose change

Posted on 12 February 2012 by

  It has to be the single oldest thing in the entire house:  a silver one Gulder piece from the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy minted in 1878, given as a curio to one of the kids by a Czech relative. About … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, EU politics, euroscepticism, history | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lion sleeps tonight? Former Czech PM’s new party launches

Posted on 28 October 2011 by

I share a  bias with many political scientists working on political parties: I tend to over-rate new parties with political organisation and some real grassroots  presence and under-rate those which are top-down vehicles created for individual politicians. So I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, euroscepticism, left-wing politics, populism, TOP09, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Schwarzenberg: From castle to Castle?

Posted on 20 October 2011 by

And no sooner do I post on Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg at Chatham House than he decides to make waves in Czech domestic politics by announcing that he will be a candidate for the Czech Presidency, when Václav Klaus … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, TOP09, Václav Havel, Václav Klaus | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment