"China's achievements in all-round development are admirable" - Interview with Katerina Konecna, Chairperson of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
2024-08-15
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Yang Yiming, a reporter of Guangming Daily in Prague
In this year's European Parliament elections, Katerina Konecnya, the current chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and Moravia, was elected to the European Parliament for the third time. The "Enough!" campaign coalition led by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and Moravia won a lot of public support for advocating peace, caring about people's lives, and safeguarding Czech national interests, becoming one of the highlights of this election.
Recently, the reporter interviewed Konecna, who briefed the reporter on her participation in the European Parliament elections and her views on the European and international situation. She expressed the hope to further promote the development of EU-China and Czech-China relations.
Katerina KonecnaPhoto by Yang Yiming/Guangming Pictures
“Returning a policy of peace”
Konecna said that the "Enough!" campaign coalition won nearly 10% of the votes in the European Parliament elections and ranked fourth in the Czech Republic, which was not only a huge success for her, but also a fulfillment of her promise to her supporters.
Konecna believes that the Czech people are facing some practical problems in life, education, medical care and other fields, but few people in the European Parliament and the Czech Parliament talk about these problems. Therefore, the Czech Communist Party is willing to cooperate with any political party that is willing to make changes to push the Czech government to improve people's lives, adopt a more pragmatic foreign policy, carry out extensive international cooperation, and effectively safeguard national interests.
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia is also willing to actively cooperate with all parties on the European Parliament stage. Konecna said: "We will unite more left-wing parties and parliamentarians to strengthen the forces of peace. In principle, we will support any proposition that is conducive to peace, the interests of the Czech people and the promotion of social equity."
Konecny said that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia will agree on a plan for next year's Czech parliamentary elections in early October and is open to cooperation with other Czech political forces. Its goal is to return the currently "absent" peace policy to the Czech and European Parliaments.
“The EU needs to play a better role”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic and other Central and Eastern European countries joining the European Union. Konecna believes that joining the EU has brought tangible benefits to the Czech Republic, but at the same time there are still frictions between the Czech Republic and the EU.
First, the development of the EU is unbalanced, and there is a huge gap between the member states. Konecna believes that the promises made to the people when the Czech Republic joined the EU have not been well fulfilled. For example, the average wage level in the Czech Republic is only 1/2 or 1/3 of that in neighboring countries such as Germany and Austria. At the same time, the Czech Republic also faces the problem that the quality of various products such as food cannot keep up with the overall EU.
Secondly, it is difficult for EU member states to find common goals in terms of governance and operation. Konecna said frankly that the EU's "double standards" problem is becoming increasingly prominent. After the Lisbon Treaty came into effect in 2009, the European Commission was given greater authority and more power, but "the EU often uses aid funds as a threat, telling member states to do this and not do that, which has caused some contradictions. For example, Hungary and Slovakia are now threatened for supporting peace, and similar situations may happen to other member states in the future."
Finally, on international and regional affairs, Konecny believes that the EU should play an active role in ending the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible, rather than "wasting the potential to solve the problem" as it is doing now. Any initiative that is conducive to achieving peace should be taken seriously.
“China is a very important partner”
Konecna paid attention to the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee held not long ago. "From infrastructure construction to scientific and technological breakthroughs, from talent education and training to the development of new quality productivity... China's comprehensive development achievements are admirable." She said, "The Communist Party of China and the government's 'people-centered' development concept not only makes people live better, but also enhances social cohesion and enables the entire country to achieve tremendous development and progress. This is worth learning. I firmly believe that the Czech Republic and China, Europe and China will also better achieve mutually beneficial cooperation in related fields."
Konecna strongly agrees with the three major global initiatives proposed by China. She believes that these initiatives are all peaceful initiatives, conducive to the peaceful development of international relations, and conducive to promoting the common development of all countries. She said that China advocates "mutual benefit and win-win", a concept of great significance, so that all parties can benefit from cooperation. She said that Chinese leaders recently paid state visits to many European countries, and the dialogue between EU and China leaders has laid a good foundation for the two sides to develop relations based on mutual respect.
China is a very important partner of the Czech Republic and other European countries. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Czech Republic and China. Konecna hopes that the Czech government, like most European countries, can handle relations with China in a more pragmatic manner. Czech companies and the public are very positive about cooperation with China. It is hoped that the two countries can take the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to continuously deepen the friendship between the two peoples and push the development of Czech-China relations to a new level.
Konecna said: "I visited China last year and hope to have the opportunity to go again this year. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and Morocco has always supported the Czech Republic in having as many friendly exchanges as possible with different countries, promoting exchanges and mutual learning in various fields, and sharing development experiences. Our party will also continue to support the Czech Republic and China in tapping the potential for cooperation in various fields and achieving common development."
(Guangming Daily, Prague, August 14)
Guangming Daily (August 15, 2024, 11th edition)
Source: Guangming Daily
