Mirek Topolánek is a Czech politician, former prime minister, chairman of the ODS and senator, who ran for President of the Czech Republic in 2023.

Mirek Topolánek in a photograph from 2007
Mirek Topolánek in a photograph from 2007Photo: Che, 2007 · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Mirek Topolánek is a Czech politician. He served as a senator, as chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and as prime minister of a coalition government of the Czech Republic. In 2023 he entered the presidential election at the last moment, announcing his candidacy two days before the deadline and going into the vote with the support of ten senators[1]. At the time of his candidacy he was 61 years old[1].

Political career

Topolánek was a senator, chairman of the ODS and prime minister of a coalition government[1]. His government began the Czech presidency of the European Union in January 2009[2]. At the end of March 2009 his government was brought down, which according to Topolánek weakened the position of the Czech Republic at the head of the presidency and deprived the country of a major opportunity[2]. The fall of the government was then pushed through by the opposition led by the ČSSD chairman Jiří Paroubek[2].

Czech presidency of the EU

According to Topolánek, the Czech presidency brought several successes even though it was ended early. They included the April summit of the European Union with the United States in Prague, the opening of a discussion on the energy security of the European Union and the prevention of protectionism[2]. Topolánek also said that at the start of the presidency the gas crisis was resolved and that the government helped to start humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip after the end of the Israeli offensive[2]. He also praised the work of the subsequent caretaker cabinet of Jan Fischer, of which he said that it had "acquitted itself with honour" in the remaining part of the presidency and thereby partly reduced the disgrace caused by the fall of the government[2].

Jiří Paroubek took a different view of the course of the presidency; in his opinion the fall of Topolánek's government did not harm the Czech Republic in Europe but rescued it from an impending disgrace[2]. Paroubek pointed to the difference between the results of Jan Fischer's government, in particular on the Lisbon Treaty, and Topolánek's "wavering" on this issue with regard to the positions of the ODS[2]. According to Paroubek, "the fall of his government came at the right moment" and saved the country from impending international disgrace, and it became "only the disgrace of Mirek Topolánek and the ODS, not of our country or of the whole EU"[2].

According to Hospodářské noviny, foreign media assessed the presidency in a similarly mixed way. The Financial Times wrote that besides a number of achievements, it was media-friendly controversies that would be remembered, among which it included "Topolánek's frolicking at Silvio Berlusconi's villa"[2]. According to the quoted words of one Brussels diplomat, the Czech "officials were very good", while the "politicians were catastrophic"[2].

Presidential candidacy (2023)

Before his presidential candidacy in 2023, Topolánek had spent the last years outside politics and worked in the energy sector[1]. Czech Television described him in connection with the candidacy as a politician who in the past had been linked to several affairs and controversial statements[1]. When announcing his candidacy, Topolánek said of himself: "I am different and I am ready for the role of a dignified president"[1].

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Sources

  1. Česká televize — 1 January 2023
  2. Hospodářské noviny — 1 January 2009