International

As a European political party, Libertas, founded by the Irish group of the same name which formed an important element in the Irish campaign for a 'no' to the Lisbon Treaty, will be able to claim subsidies from the European Union. This is the same for all political parties who fulfil the criteria for registration as a 'European political party'. Some people find this objectionable, because Libertas is critical of this EU and continues to oppose the Lisbon Treaty, which is almost identical to the 'European Constitution'. Although the 2008 campaign in Ireland was organised principally by the left, the contribution of the centre-right Libertas cannot be ignored. Now the group has announced that it will be standing candidates, in principle throughout the EU, in the coming elections for the European Parliament.

President Klaus of the Czech Republic was this morning booed and jeered by Euro-MPs from the European Parliament's three biggest political groups. Following their display of yelling and shouting, many of them walked out of the Brussels hemicycle. Their problem? Vaclav Klaus's opinions on how to bring about a better Europe differed from theirs.