Gazeta Wyborcza, 25 November 2009

The spectre of vetting is beginning to haunt the European Commission, according to an article in Gazeta Wyborcza. The Christian-democratic faction in the European Parliament has demanded that all MEPs who formerly co-operated with “repressive regimes and undemocratic organizations” be denied the post of Commissioner. MEPs from Central Europe, much experienced on the vetting front in their own countries, are already rubbing their hands and saying two candidates may be in the firing line: the current Czech minister for European affairs, Štefan Füle, and Hungary’s László Andor. The former is accused of having studied in the prestigious Moscow school of diplomacy, MGIMO, and of having been a member of the Czechoslovakian Communist party, while the latter is considered to hold neo-marxist views. “I’m afraid that what is really going on here are civil wars within the Czech Republic and Hungary,” says a Gazeta source at the Commission. “Fellow Czechs and Hungarians are trying to wreck the reputations of these men.” The European Parliament’s hearing of  the candidates are to start next week.