(Repeats story from Thursday)
By Michael Winfrey
PRAGUE, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic took the helm
of the European Union on Thursday and tried to allay doubts over
its ability to lead with a plan to seek a ceasefire to the
deadliest violence in the Gaza Strip in decades.
The Czechs had raised concern among some EU states over how
well they could follow France's initiative-filled tenure, in
which President Nicolas Sarkozy tackled issues ranging from
climate change to the Russia-Georgia conflict.
With Europe facing its possibly worst economic crisis since
World War Two and an energy dispute between Russia and Ukraine,
diplomats had wondered if the Czech Republic's small size and
government resistant to deeper integration could meet the task.
As his first act, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek announced
an EU mission to work for a Gaza ceasefire. He said the plan was
vital due to the absence of a major U.S. role as President-elect
Barack Obama prepares to replace George W. Bush on Jan. 20.
"The unpleasant thing is that we cannot count on the U.S.
administration ... It is up to the European Union to take over
the initiative," Topolanek told Czech TV.
"I think it's our main role in the coming days and weeks."
He hoped Obama would "not make the same mistake as Bush,
meaning to push the Middle East problem aside". Israel has
killed some 400 Palestinians in strikes it says are aimed at
putting an end to Hamas rocket attacks.
Topolanek said the mission would comprise EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner and Czech, French and Swedish foreign ministers.
It will overlap with a visit by Sarkozy to the region on Jan. 5.
The Czech presidency also urged further talks and a quick
resolution to the Russia-Ukraine dispute after Russia said it
would switch off supplies to its ex-Soviet neighbour. Prague
also demanded Russia meet its obligations to the EU.
Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said he had expected
difficulties from the start of the six-month presidency.
"We have to face up to it. It's a challenge," he told news
agency CTK.
GLANCING BLOW
Topolanek also said he would announce a previously planned
cabinet reshuffle, with "significant" changes, on Jan. 5, and
said his government would set a date for euro adoption on Nov. 1
-- ending years of Czech resistance to a specific target.
The Czech republic's 10 million people have 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.
Topolanek's minority centre-right government has dragged its
heels on the Lisbon reform treaty, a charter designed to
streamline EU decision making. The Czechs are the only member
not to have voted on the charter.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus is also a staunch eurosceptic
who has openly campaigned against the Lisbon treaty, although
his post is largely ceremonial.
He took a non-combative tone in a New Year's day address,
but advocated an EU where "political decision making is as close
to the citizen as possible" -- a veiled swipe at Lisbon, which
he argues will interfere with individual states' sovereignty.
"We do not have any alternative to membership in the
European Union and it is unfair if somebody is trying to force
us into an opposite stance," he said.
On the economy, the Czechs' expect slight growth next year
and unemployment rising to around 6 percent, which could put
them at odds with euro zone states fighting recession, or Spain,
where some economists say unemployment could hit 20 percent.
(Additional reporting by Jana Mlcochova and Jan Korselt in
Prague and Mark John in Brussels; Editing by Giles Elgood)
