Kateřina Konečná is a Czech politician of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia who presented the party's positions on socialism, the European Union and NATO in the media.
Kateřina Konečná is a Czech politician and a member of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM). When she gave the interview cited here to Czech Television, she was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic for this party [1]. In an interview for Hospodářské noviny she is named as the person who led the KSČM candidate list in the elections [2].
Views on socialism and political cooperation
In the Czech Television programme Hyde Park, Konečná said that the main aim of the KSČM remains the attainment of socialism, which in her words is to be pursued by democratic means [1]. Asked why nobody cooperates with the communists at the national level, she answered that she attributes this to a "naive and stupid anti-communism", which in her view prevails over a matter-of-fact approach [1]. On the party's limited options in national politics she said: "We have time. Just as we waited for coalitions in the regions, we will wait for coalitions in the government" [1].
Views on the European Union
In the interview for Hospodářské noviny, conducted by the deputy director of the Evropské hodnoty think tank, Konečná named the right to energy supply as her first point. In her view, Brussels should not dictate energy parameters to states, and this power should remain with the member states [2].
Regarding the KSČM programme point "the right to work", she said that she considers austerity policy to be wrong and that the European Union should create more jobs. Although it has ceased to be enforceable at present, she would like to see it included in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in future [2].
Another topic that, in her view, the European Union addresses insufficiently is citizen participation. She said: "European officials should stop deciding and citizens should start, for example by proposing legislative acts" [2]. In connection with discrimination in the European Union, she gave the example of about 300,000 Russians living in the Baltic states who in her words "do not have their basic rights" because they kept Russian citizenship and were offered only limited forms of citizenship without the right to vote instead, which Konečná described as discrimination [2].
Views on NATO and the conflict in Ukraine
In the same interview Konečná said that, in her view, the Czech Republic should leave NATO. She stated: "I do not see NATO as a guarantee of security. For the past 15 years it has been provoking conflicts and is rather an aggressive element than a conciliatory one" [2]. She attributed the conflict in Ukraine mainly to the European Union, adding that in her view the association agreement with Ukraine should not have been negotiated without inviting Russia [2]. Asked by Jakub Janda of Evropské hodnoty what Ukraine can then decide on its own, she replied that Ukraine can decide everything on its own, but that Russia should also take part in deciding on EU accession [2]. She added that she understands Russia's concerns about Ukraine joining the EU, because in her view it would mean the presence of American soldiers on territory bordering Russia [2].