Ivan Camilleri, Prague
Prague Castle 'flies' EU flag despite President's objection
The EU flag projected on Charles Bridge in Prague yesterday. The flag also featured prominently on Prague Castle contrary to the wishes of Czech eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus.
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.
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malcolm seychell
Jan 10th 2009, 08:51
Mr Farrugia I have my facts right.
Obviously some people are having it really good with the EU and they will say nothing against the EU.
I also voted yes to enter in the EU so I am not Anti EU.
But I also see the dark side of the EU so at least something could be done about the problems which people are facing every day.
History has shown us that nations without identity will fall and a high mixture of cultures and races will eventually end up in a war between themselves.
This is what is happening in the EU just right now , just in case you missed it.
Franco Farrugia
Jan 9th 2009, 21:49
@ malcolm seychell - 'It is a known fact, that EU wants to abolish the national identity of every state.'
Less talk, more study and reading, will do you good, Mr Seychell. Get your facts right.
Clive Brockdorff
Jan 9th 2009, 17:52
Why on earth should Greenpeace shove its snout into such matters? The desire to mould and control society is evidently very strong in some people.
malcolm seychell
Jan 9th 2009, 16:46
Greenpeace and almost all NGOS are political organizations who push the agenda of a country or to put it even better a democratic dicatatorship.
When Putin passed a law on NGOs, that they should start showing were the money is coming from almost 70% closed the doors.
John Spiteri
Jan 9th 2009, 15:27
Greenpeace like several other environmental organisations exploit normal people's natural love for the environment by inventing all sorts of far-fetched threats. but their agenda is not saving the planet but social control. Even a moderate politician like Al Gore has been clear as to what is needed. In "Earth in the Balance", he wrote that saving the planet would require a "wrenching transformation of society". that's what its all about.
"The desire to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it" -- H L Mencken
g grech
Jan 9th 2009, 15:12
Greenpeace do a lot of things, they go fighting Japanese whaling vessels and a hundred other thing but do they say anything about this ,it only happens in the Faroe Islands (DENMARK), visit this site and see
http://www.huntinginmalta.org.mt/uploads/24/483/DENMARK_MASSACRE.pdf
Joseph Anthony Debono
Jan 9th 2009, 14:12
A grave insult to the sovereignty of the Czech Republic. Greenpeace is an international NGO. What right does it have to meddle with the internal politics of the EU? This article is erroneous and poorly researched. Greenpeace inflicted this insult on the sovereignty of the Czech Republic not because Vaclav Klaus is a “eurosceptic” but because he strongly opposes the theory of anthropogenic climate change. Vaclav Klaus wrote a book called “Blue Planet in Green Shackles” in which he proposes “that policies… to address global warming are not justified by current science and are… a dangerous threat to freedom and prosperity around the world… The environmental movement has transformed itself into an ideology that seeks to restrict human activities at any cost, while pursuing an impossible utopian dream of a perfectly "natural" world. The supposed threat of human civilization against a fragile Earth has become an article of faith…"The largest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy, and prosperity at the end of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century is no longer socialism... It is, instead, the ambitious, arrogant, unscrupulous ideology of environmentalism."” (http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Green-Shackles-Vaclav-Klaus/dp/B001A3W3BK). More and more Climatologists are agreeing with Vaclav Klaus: http://www.climatescienceinternational.org/
lgalea
Jan 9th 2009, 12:37
"prompted Greenpeace to project a giant EU flag..."
And I always thought that Greenpeace had nothing at all to do with politics.
So it is now a public fact that no one can deny the Greenpeace is simply an eu pocket organization whose agenda is to strive to serve the eu petty dictators.
Thank you for this very interesting information about Greenpeace.
You can rest assured that you have lost my confidence and support as well as that of others.
malcolm seychell
Jan 9th 2009, 12:17
It is good that finally we have a person who is not a lacky of everything the EU tries to impose.
It is a known fact, that EU wants to abolish the national identity of every state.
Something which was tried even before by the Soviet Empire.
Surely the Czech Republic knows better then us, what a colony of a superstate means.
john scerri
Jan 9th 2009, 11:33
@J.Azzopardi
Of course it is.
Please read on to the third paragraph...
John Azzopardi
Jan 9th 2009, 11:15
The photograph accompanying the article does not show Prague Castle, but the famous landmark Charles Bridge.