Czechs May Appoint New Commissioner

The Czech government might replace its current commissioner Pavel Telicka with outgoing Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, a move some worry Brussels may not like. According to Czech media, Telicka is being rejected as a member of the next EU executive by one of the Czech governing parties, the Christian Democrats, because of his former membership of the Czech Communist Party. The Christian Democrats are now looking to Spidla, a Social Democrat who resigned as Prime Minister in June following a major defeat of his party in the European elections. Spidla can count on the support from his own party, as well as from the opposition right-wing ODS. The outgoing prime minister said on Friday he would accept an official offer to become a new Czech EU commissioner. "If I receive such an offer, I will not reject it", Spidla told the press agency CTK. But some Czech politicians fear that Brussels would not appreciate the move. (EUobserver.com)