Sobotka's Putin connection

The pro-ČSSD media, which means 75% of the main Czech news sources, will have you believe that Bohuslav Sobotka is pro-Western and the protector of European values. To these media, Miloš Zeman is the opposite, documented in part by his participation in Vladimir Yakunin's Dialogue of Civilizations in Rhodes. Some of the journalists and analysts promoting this one-sided view are naive, uninformed and lazy and truly believe what they say and write, while others are willing stooges of ČSSD a.s. Bohuslav Sobotka launched ČSSD's election campaign in Pilsen yesterday, where Josef Bernard is the party's candidate for governor. As CEO and co-owner of Škoda Holding, he made much of his money thanks to deals with Russia set in motion by Martin Roman during meetings in 2003 with that same Vladimir Yakunin. In a very real sense, Bernard is the Kremlin's candidate, and Sobotka, Roman and Yakunin are his ticket to political power.