Dlouhý tries to broker a deal

The German-Slovak Chamber of Commerce took the unusual step three weeks ago of calling for more Slovak ministers to resign, which ultimately happened. PM Robert Fico even stepped aside. The Czech Chamber of Commerce took a more circuitous approach yesterday. Pres. Vladimír Dlouhý urged Czech politicians, including Andrej Babiš, who was in attendance, not to cast doubt on the country's post-1989 economic and political developments. The foundations put in place in the 1990s - personal freedoms, free enterprise, privatization, restitution, etc. - led to today's successes, Dlouhý said. He reminded Babiš that his own Agrofert fortune derived from the business environment that existed in the 1990s. Dlouhý also called rather explicitly for Miloš Zeman to keep his hands off Czech TV. It almost sounded like a plea for Babiš and Zeman to let bygones be bygones. Babiš responded in his own speech by saying that he won't let anyone steal ČEZ's best assets.