Czech President Calls for Referendum on EU, NATO Membership

(Bloomberg) Czech President Milos Zeman called for a referendum on the country’s membership in the European Union and NATO, adding to concern that more European countries will copy Britain’s Brexit vote even as he said he supported remaining in both blocs.

The Czech Republic benefits as an EU member because it receives more funds than it contributes, while NATO provides security guarantees in fighting international terrorism, Zeman said on public Czech Radio on Friday. Still, he said he would do everything in his power to initiate a referendum “so people can express themselves.” The government rejected the president’s suggestion.

“I disagree with those who support leaving the EU,” Zeman said. “But I’ll do everything I can to make a referendum happen.”

Often at odds with official government policy, the president has angered EU leaders by openly criticizing the bloc’s economic sanctions against Russia. He has publicly supported Vladimir Putin, strengthened Czech ties with China and derided the bloc’s leadership as “totally incompetent.” He has also alienated many European allies with his hard-line stance against refugees, whom he has repeatedly and publicly linked to terrorism.

Because Zeman’s role is largely ceremonial, and he has no power to call a referendum, he is commenting only to shape public opinion, according to Jan Outly, a political scientist at the Metropolitan University in Prague. The country doesn’t have a law allowing such a ballot, so any attempt to hold one would be a long process, he said.

“This is just one of many public announcements Mr. Zeman makes to make himself visible in the media,” Outly said by phone. “He has absolutely no authority to make it happen.”

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka’s administration considers membership in the EU and and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization guarantees of stability and security, according to a statement that it e-mailed after Zeman’s comments.

“The government isn’t considering taking any steps that could in any way question our memberships and the long-term direction of the Czech Republic’s foreign policy, and therefore it doesn’t expect any referendums,” the government said. (FullStory)

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Related (Reuters) Czech government rejects president's call for referendum on EU, NATO

Czech Republic aims to be called "Czechia" in English

(PragueDailyMonitor) Prague, April 12 (CTK) - The Czech Republic should also use the official name Czechia and this shortened version should be added to the United Nations Geographical Names database that contains the official names of countries and cities in six languages, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said yesterday.

Zaoralek told journalists that he believes Czech top constitutional officials would support the change at their meeting scheduled for Thursday.

Provided that the foreign minister, the defence minister, the prime minister, the president, and the heads of the two houses of parliament reach agreement on the shortened name in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, the Czech Republic will ask the United Nations to add these names to the database.

"It is not good if a country does not have clearly defined symbols or if it even does not clearly say what its name is," Zaoralek said.

He said it sometimes happened during his foreign trips that the name of his country was mangled.
Zaoralek said Czechs have been unable to tell the world that they use the shortened name Cesko for their country and that this name has only one correct translation according to them.

He said the name "Czechia" unfortunately has not become widely popular, although there seems to be no other alternative. This name got into the English language via Latin, he said.

Some people use the adjective Czech instead, while others prefer the name Czechlands.
President Milos Zeman has already been using the English translation Czechia in his speeches. During his visit to Israel in 2013, he said Czechia was shorter and had a better sound than the unfriendly official name, the Czech Republic.

In other languages, such as Slovak, Italian and Spanish, the shortened name of the country is commonly used. The German equivalent is Tschechien, not Tschechei, which is sometimes viewed as pejorative.

Zaoralek said the benefits of adding the shortened name to the United Nations list would be seen at sports and other international events, it would help the promotion of the country and the labels of Czech products.