Prague Castle 'flies' EU flag despite President's objection

The EU flag featured prominently on Prague Castle yesterday contrary to the wishes of its prominent resident, eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus, after Greenpeace activists projected the iconic flag on the palace early yesterday morning.

As his country began its six-month stint at the helm of the European Union, Mr Klaus - who has effectively no political powers in the country - said he did not want the EU flag to fly on "his" castle, as "the Czech Republic is not a colony of the EU".

This controversial declaration, criticised by major EU exponents, prompted Greenpeace to project a giant EU flag on the iconic Prague castle and Charles Bridge, one of the most internationally recognised tourist spots in the Czech Republic.

Coinciding with the customary visit to the new rotating EU capital by the European Commission and its President José Manuel Barroso, Greenpeace activists also projected a series of slogans on the castle's towers which "pointed the way" to the forthcoming international climate conference in Copenhagen later this year and read: "Copenhagen - 333 days" and "Time to lead".

The important United Nations conference, which should lead to a new post-Kyoto agreement on climate change, will be chaired by Maltese climate change expert Michael Zammit Tabona - considered a worldwide authority in this sector. Greenpeace's EU climate and energy policy director, Joris den Blanken told the press yesterday that the current spat between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies reinforces the need for the Czech EU Presidency to make climate protection, along with energy security, the highest priorities of its Presidency.

"Fighting climate change is the best way to reduce dependency on expensive fossil fuels, create millions of new jobs and ensure a stable and efficient economy to counter the economic recession," he said.

Greenpeace has also drawn up a list of five key priorities against which it will judge the success or failure of the Czech EU Presidency in six months' time. These include funding for clean energy and forest protection in developing countries. And at a time when a number of European countries are concerned with unreliable gas supplies from Russia, Greenpeace also called on the Czech EU Presidency to ensure the implementation of measures under the EU's recently adopted climate and energy package to help make the transition to a more efficient and less fossil-fuel dependent EU energy sector.