A Marriage of Convenience?

How will Czech entry change the EU?

In a HARDtalk interview broadcast on 10 November, Tim Sebastian talks to Vaclav Klaus, Presdient of the Czech Republic about his country's plans for entry into the European Union.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus told Tim Sebastian that the Czech Republic would fight to prevent itself from being swallowed up by Brussels bureaucracy when it joins the EU next May.

He once compared the Czech Republic joining the EU with a lump of sugar dissolving in a cup of coffee, and he told Tim Sebastian this was a serious analogy, not just a phrase.

"We know that the EU is an exclusive club, and you can't change the rules from the outside".

He described the Czech Republic's relationship with the EU as a "marriage of convenience" rather than as a "marriage of love" and agreed that he did not identify with any of the grand ideals of the EU.

President Klaus describes himself as a "Euro-realist" and refused to say what he voted in the referendum as to whether the Czech Republic should join Europe.

HARDtalk can be seen on BBC World at 04:30 GMT, 11:30 GMT, 15:30 GMT, 19:30 GMT and 00:30 GMT

It can also be seen on BBC News 24 at 04:30 and 23:30