EU’s Tusk urges Czech President Zeman to cooperate in Europe

Pro-Russian incumbent Milos Zeman waves to the audience as he celebrates his victory with his staff members after he was reelected Czech President on January 27, 2018 at the Top hotel in Prague. Zeman took 51.95 percent of the vote against 48.04 percent for Drahos with 96.87 percent of ballots counted, Czech Television reported quoting official results. / AFP / RADEK MICA

BRUSSELS : The chair of EU national leaders, Donald Tusk, urged Czech President Milos Zeman on Monday to pursue cooperation with the European Union following his re-election after a campaign critical of the bloc.
In a message of congratulations, European Council President Tusk wrote: “I trust that your country will continue to play an active and constructive role within the European Union.”
The former Polish prime minister, who has tried to calm mounting frictions between wealthier governments in the west and former-communist EU members in the east, highlighted his own efforts to get the Union to “better respond to European citizens’ concerns” — a nod to popular worries over issues such as immigration, on which Zeman based some of his campaigning.
Asked whether the European Commission was troubled by Zeman’s re-election, a spokesman for the EU executive said it respected the vote: “We are not worried,” he told reporters.
Later on Monday, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was to host Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who has support from Zeman as he struggles to form a government following a parliamentary election in October.