FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Former Czech President Vaclav Klaus Slams EU and Its Club of Rome Agenda

March 13, 2019 (EIRNS)—Prof. Václav Klaus, former President of the Czech Republic (2003-13), slammed the European Union as being worse than the Soviet Union’s Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) that ruled over the economies of Eastern Europe between 1949 and 1991. Having lived under communism for 40 years, Klaus said he has the experienced to make such a criticism.

On March 12 Klaus was the featured speaker at the Presidential Lecture Series of the Center for Financial Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt, under the auspices of its President, Prof. Otmar Issing. In his presentation entitled, “The EU Is Not Europe” Klaus laid out several key policies which have made the EU a most undemocratic union.

First, he slammed its environmentalist policies at a time when not one environmentalist party in Europe could come anywhere close to winning an election. He particularly slammed, by name, the Club of Rome. Second, he slammed the climate change ideology as totally unproven and now promoting a Malthusian agenda. Third he attacked the so-called information society in which Europe’s universities are graduating unemployable degree holders. Fourthly, he attacked the euro single currency as having generated massive inequality throughout Europe. He charged that the Eurozone, through the European Central Bank’s Target 2 real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system is already a transfer union but has not benefitted any of its members. After its 20 years of existence, it has proven to be a failure.

The fifth point he made was a passionate defense of the nation-state and national sovereignty as the only basis for defending the political and economic rights of the people. He pointed out that a “democracy” by definition requires a “demos,” but it is only the sovereign nation-state, not “Europe,” that fulfills the requirements of a demos. The text of his remarks is posted to his English website.

Asked to comment on Brexit, he expressed the shock at the way the EU has dealt with it. He recalled how he, as Prime Minister (1993-97) had overseen the split between Czechia and Slovakia. Although he disagreed with the division of then Czechoslovakia, he did implement it, since the Slovaks insisted. The division took only six months and was carried out in the most cooperative and friendly manner. Whereas with the Brexit, he said, while the British could have been more clever, the way the EU addressed it was outrageous. He also admitted that when the Brexit vote occurred, “we uncorked the champagne bottles.”

When the question of so-called “populism” in Europe came up he replied that the term is meaningless, as it is being used simply to put on a derogatory label on those who disagree with EU policy.

To the last question asking him to comment on what he believes the future holds for Europe, he referred to a famous Marlon Brando movie in which he asks a fortune teller what the cards hold for his future. The fortune teller looks at the cards, and tells Brando, “you have no future.” He said he expected that the EU will collapse after some painful muddling through.

Professor Issing, former chief economist and member of the board of the European Central Bank and a critic of the Eurozone policies, told EIR in a one-on-one discussion that he invited his good friend Professor Klaus to speak in order to bring another view into the debate. He said he felt there would have been more voices in support of Klaus, had there not been intense social pressure created by the Europeanists and environmentalists.