Czech president supports idea of referendum on country’s withdrawal from EU

PRAGUE, June 22. /TASS/. The Czech Republic’s President Milos Zeman has spoken out in favor of holding a referendum on the country’s withdrawal from the European Union.

"It’s up to citizens to decide," he said on Thursday speaking at a conference on the Czech national priorities. "The Czech Republic’s withdrawal from the EU is possible theoretically and practically, if a law on the referendum submitted to the parliament is passed," Zeman noted. "I am a proponent of direct democracy, a proponent of a referendum. I would support this referendum (on withdrawal from the European Union), but would vote against it myself."

Poor governance

Zeman expressed concern over the low "quality of EU governance." "The European Union needs strong leaders, the way it was in the past," he said.

Europeans have no respect for the union’s current leaders. Their policy with regard to the EU member-countries is reminiscent of the "limited sovereignty" doctrine that used to be implemented by the Soviet Union in relation to the Soviet bloc countries.

According to the president, the Czech Republic’s main national interest is "the existence of a sovereign country."

Merkel’s mistake

The Czech president noted that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to invite Syrian refugees to Germany was her tragic mistake, which was detrimental to the entire European Union. "They keep talking about their solidarity with someone, but not with their own citizens," Zeman emphasized.

He noted that after the elections to the lower house of the Czech parliament scheduled for October, the politicians who will win them could reconsider their negative attitude towards the compulsory distribution of quotas within the EU . According to Zeman, their only wish could be that the quotas should be offered in the form of recommendations from the EU governing bodies rather than assigned by decree.