Photo: Barbora Navrátilová, Radio Prague International
Danuše Nerudová is an economist and university professor and a former rector of Mendel University in Brno. She is running in the European elections for the Mayors and Independents Party.
Ms. Nerudová, a recent poll showed that the issues Czechs are most interested in, in these elections, are security, energy security and migration. Turning first to security. There is a war raging just 300km from the country’s eastern border. Czechia has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine from the start, providing both military and humanitarian aid. Now some parties are increasingly pushing for peace talks. What is your position on this and what is crucial for European security today?
“I think the crucial task for the EU is to provide continued strong support for Ukraine, because Ukraine is also fighting for us. I think that the European Union made a big mistake in 2014, when Putin invaded Crimea, that the response of the EU was very weak. And he took advantage of that to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That should be a lesson to us and I honestly do not understand those voices [calling for peace talks] because we are not the ones who can talk about initiating peace talks. The only person who can do that is President Zelensky, because it is his people who are fighting.
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Author: Daniela Lazarová