The seeds of European disconent are spreading. One week after Britain voted to separate amicably with the EU, the president of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, called for a referendum on his country’s membership in the EU and NATO. Demonstrating a shocking grasp of what democracy truly is, while Zeman wants to remain in both organizations, he wants the public to have a chance to “express themselves” something which sends a spike of terror through the hearts of all unelected Brussels bureaucrats.
Meanwhile, support for the EU is waning in the central European country. In April, a poll conducted by the CVVM institute showed that just 25% of the population is satisfied with their membership in the bloc, as cited by Reuters. Twelve months earlier, that figure had stood at 32%. And so, following on Britain’s vote to exit the EU, Zeman now wants to give the Czech public the chance to decide their own future, as skepticism about the merits of remaining in the bloc continues to rise.
“I disagree with those who are for leaving the European Union,” Czech Radio quoted Zeman as saying on Thursday evening, according to Reuters. “But I will do everything for them to have a referendum and be able to express themselves. And the same goes for a NATO exit too,” he added.
Czech president Milos Zeman
Needless to say, Zeman’s plans have not been well received across the EU, which is – at least on paper – reeling from the political and economic fallout of Britain’s decision to leave the bloc, a decision which however has sent stocks soaring in anticipation of more monetary easing and which has prompted Italy to use Brexit as a scapegoat to demand a bailout of its insolvent banks. Most prominently, in the wake of the vote, the leader of France’s far-right National Front party Marine Le Pen also called for a referendum on leaving the EU for her country.
Spain’s acting foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, said that the Czech Republic should not hold a referendum on EU membership, calling it “a very bad idea,” despite the fact that Zeman has publically stated that he wants to remain in both institutions.
That said, holding a referendum will be no formality as it would require that changes be made to the Czech constitution, and Zeman has no power to call the vote himself. As RT notes, if a referendum was to take place, the constitution would need to be amended, which would require a 60 percent vote of support from both houses of parliament.
In response to Zeman’s proposal, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka’s office said that the government has no intention of holding a referendum. However, Sobotka admits that changes to the bloc need to be made.
“We need to change the functioning of Europe as such and reduce the red tape. I would be pleased if we sent a clear signal in the early autumn at the latest about how we would like to change Europe positively,” he said on Tuesday, as cited by the Czech News Agency.
A signal yes, but anything to prevent the majority from expressing an opinion for the simple reason that a stunning article appears just several days ago in Foreign Policy, in which the author called for the “Elites to rise up against the Ignorant masses.”
Instead, the elites have a better idea: keep pumping stocks ever higher in hopes some of their wealth will trickle down to the same “ignorant masses” who should just be happy with their lot in life and ideally just keep quiet and never dare to question the status quo.
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