The new Czech President might bring about a change of rhetoric on Europe but a policy shift towards the EU appears unlikely

In the weekend’s presidential election in the Czech Republic, voters chose Miloš Zeman to succeed Václav Havel and Václav Klaus as the first directly elected President in the country’s history. A former prime minister for the left, he defeated the current foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg (centre-right) in the second round of the elections on Saturday. David Cadier considers the potential policy implications of the result, arguing that despite Zeman’s previous pro-Europe rhetoric, a major policy shift away from the country’s cautious approach towards the EU seems unlikely in the short term.