(Adds quotes from deputy prime minister, detail)
By Michael Winfrey
PRAGUE, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic took the helm
of the European Union on Thursday for a six-month stint in which
it must help the bloc tackle its worst economic crisis in
generations and deal with renewed conflict in the Middle East.
Following the initiative-filled tenure of France -- whose
President Nicolas Sarkozy jousted with issues from financial
turmoil to climate change -- the Czechs have raised concern
among some EU states over their ability to lead.
The Czechs have tried to quell those fears, identifying main
priorities as the economy, external relations and energy, the
last of which may come into play soon as Russia threatens to
stop gas supplies to Ukraine, a major transit state to the EU.
"Sarkozy has already called Prime Minister Topolanek and he
congratulated him," Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs
Alexandr Vondra said on live television.
He then lit a huge metronome above Prague, the symbol of the
Czech presidency, although the ceremony was relatively low key
and the official launch will take place on Jan. 7.
The ex-communist state of 10 million people has suffered
only a glancing blow from the economic crisis that has wreaked
havoc across the rest of the bloc's 495 million population in
the form of plummeting markets, bank bailouts, and job losses.
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's minority centre-right
government has dragged its heels on the Lisbon reform treaty, a
charter designed to streamline EU decision making, making the
Czechs one of just three EU members who have yet to ratify it.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus is a staunch eurosceptic who
has campaigned against deeper integration with other EU members,
even if his post is largely ceremonial.
Topolanek, who will chair the Czech presidency, will have to
tackle those issues along with the already long list of
challenges he faces in the new year.
MIDDLE EAST
On Sunday Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg expected to
travel to the Middle East to work towards a ceasefire in the
Gaza Strip, where Israel has killed nearly 400 and wounded 1,600
in an offensive it says is to halt rocket attacks from Hamas.
"As soon as he takes over (for) the presidency, he feels it
is his duty to fly there and start handling it," said
Schwarzenberg's spokeswoman, Zuzana Opletalova.
Schwarzenberg, a close ally of Washington and pro-Israel,
defended the strikes on Tuesday. He put the onus of the conflict
on Hamas and said Israel had a right to defend itself.
That was a different message from France's condemnation of
aggression from both sides' and call for an immediate ceasefire.
Those stances may be thrown in stark relief when Sarkozy
visits Egypt and the Palestinian terrorities on Jan. 5 and Syria
and Lebanon on Jan. 6 in a bid to secure a peace deal.
On the economy, the Czechs' expect slight growth next year
and see unemployment rising to around 6 percent. They have
derided other EU governments for ramping up state spending with
big stimulus packages to counter falling private sector growth.
That could put them at odds with big euro zone countries
that are already fighting recession, or Spain, where some
economists say unemployment could hit 20 percent.
But pundits said the Czechs' success as EU presidents will
depend on whether they use the EU as a platform, and that either
the EU's executive Commission or the "big three" -- Germany,
France and England -- would take control if Prague does not.
"The EU presidency actually has very little formal power,"
said Charles Grant, director of the London-based Centre for
European Reform. "With the Commission and the big three, in a
way, if some awful crisis emerges, having a more inexperienced
country in the EU presidency need not cause too many problems."
(Additional reporting by Jana Mlcochova; Editing by Matthew
Jones)
