GERMANY: Czech President Vaclav Klaus meets with German President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel on his last visit to Berlin as head of state

Record ID: 863070

  • Title: GERMANY: Czech President Vaclav Klaus meets with German President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel on his last visit to Berlin as head of state
  • Date: 9th January 2013
  • Summary: PUPILS WITH GERMAN AND CZECH FLAGS WAITING
  • Embargoed: 24th January 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • City:
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABRVOVHS7W2QQAPGXQD52Z038Z
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Czech President Vaclav Klaus arrived for his final visit to Germany on Wednesday (January 9) and was received both by his German counterpart Joachim Gauck and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
    The conservative politician has been the head of state of Germany's neighbour for the last ten years. After his second term, which will come to end on March 2013, Klaus cannot be reelected.
    In the presidential elections on January 11 and 12, Czech voters can for the first time directly to choose their president which is widely seen as a response to demands for more transparency and less back-room dealings. So far, the president has been chosen by parliament.
    There are two clear frontrunners: former Prime Minister Jan Fischer and the former Social Democrat (CSSD) leader and Prime Minister Milos Zeman.
    The presidency, brought to the forefront of the political conscience, was once held by the anti-communist dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel, and has become a symbol of the way the Czech Republic presents itself to the world rather than a direct influence of the country's politics.
    If no candidate wins an absolute majority, a run-off will be held two weeks later.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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