Milos Zeman - President of the Czech Republic and a friend of Russia

The first popularly elected president of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, has been in office since March 2013. He is an experienced politician, previously served as prime minister of the Czech Republic, for many years was a member of parliament.

Origin, childhood and youth

The current President of the Czech Republic was born in the town of Colin in the family of a postal worker and a teacher. His father left his family early and did not raise his son, so Milosha was raised by his mother and grandmother. He was a painful child, from childhood he was diagnosed with heart disease, which in his youth served as the basis for exemption from military service.

Back in 1963, in the final grade of secondary school, Milose's uncompromising temperament manifested itself when he invited the teacher to discuss his essay on the basis of a book banned in Czechoslovakia on the first president of Czechoslovakia, Masaryk. Then Milosha had to face for the first time the restriction of freedom of speech: he was not admitted to final exams at first, and then did not give recommendations necessary for admission to the university.

Years of study and first steps in politics

For two years, the future president of the Czech Republic worked in the accounting department of the Tatra plant in his hometown before he could enter the correspondence department of the University of Economics in Prague. Two years later he was transferred to the full-time department and moved to the capital. At the university, he is noted as a very capable student. Milosh becomes the organizer of the discussion club, actively participates in the discussion of current political processes.

And in the yard stood the year 1968, the "Prague Spring", when the leadership of the Czechoslovak Communist Party headed by Alexander Dubcek put forward the concept of building "socialism with a human face." Milos Zeman fully supports these aspirations and in the same year joins the Communist Party.

However, the hopes of the Czechoslovak reformers were not destined to come true. The troops of the Warsaw Pact countries were introduced into the country . Inside it, political purges began. Exposed to them and the current president of the Czech Republic, and in 1969 he was expelled from the Communist Party. This coincided with the graduation of the university, and the young economist immediately felt the difficulty in finding a job.

Career in socialist Czechoslovakia

For thirteen years, the current president of the Czech Republic has been working in a sports organization. Then in the mid-80s he moved to Agrodat agricultural enterprise and finally got an opportunity to do research in the field of economics. Their result was his article "Design and Reconstruction", published in 1989 in one of the scientific journals and containing a sharp criticism of the economic policies of the Czechoslovak authorities.

Readers of the older generation probably remember what public resonance caused in the USSR published in the summer of 1987 in the "New World" article by economist Nikolai Shmelev "Advances and debts." Here is about the same response triggered by Zeman's article. She was actively discussed in the press and on television. The authorities tried to pressure Zeman. He even lost his job, but soon revolutionary changes broke out in the country.

"Velvet Revolution" and the beginning of a political career

In the fall of 1989, mass demonstrations of protest began in Prague. The future president of the Czech Republic, Zeman, takes an active part in them. He speaks at rallies, compares the standard of living in Czechoslovakia with African countries, and such arguments are a huge success for his listeners.

Milosh Zeman becomes one of the leaders of the organization "Civil Forum", which became a representative of protesters in negotiations with the authorities, wrote the first political program of the forum. After the peaceful transition of power from the Communists to representatives of democratic forces, he moves to work in an academic research institute engaged in economic forecasting, and in 1990 he becomes a deputy of the renewed parliament.

Career in the Czech Republic

Since 1992, the future president of the Czech Republic was a member of the Social Democratic Party. On its list in the same year he was elected to parliament, and soon became chairman of this party. As a Social Democrat, Zeman was again elected to parliament in 1996, after which he assumed the post of chairman of his lower house.

The extraordinary parliamentary elections of 1998 brought the Social Democrats, led by Zeman, a victory, and he became prime minister of the Czech Republic. Under his leadership, the country became a member of NATO and acquired a professional army. The Zeman government completed the privatization of state property and the construction of the Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia.

In 2001, as a result of inner-party disagreements, Zeman was removed from the post of party leader, and in the following year he resigned from his post as head of government. In 2007, he left the ranks of the Social Democrats, and in 2009 founded the "Civil Rights Party", which so far could not get through to the parliamentary elections.

The first president of the Czech Republic, elected nationwide

Two of Milos Zeman's predecessors in this post, Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus, were elected by the parliament. Thanks to the amendment to the Constitution of the Czech Republic, adopted in 2011, the president of the country was elected directly by popular vote. The main powers of the President of the Czech Republic, the head of the country, consist in the fact that he represents it at the international level and is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of its Armed Forces.

In the first round of the 2013 elections, Zeman received a relative majority of votes and won in the second round of the then Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. His oath as president before both houses of parliament was held on March 8, 2013.

The attitude of Zeman to Russia

In contrast to his European counterparts, Czech President Miloš Zeman stresses his friendly attitude towards our country. He disapproved of the economic sanctions imposed on Russia. Unlike many European politicians, he openly criticized the actions of the Ukrainian authorities in the Donbass.

A vivid confirmation of Zeman's attitude towards our country was his presence (the only one of the European leaders!) On May 9 in Moscow to celebrate the 70th anniversary of victory in the Second World War. At the same time, it was noticeable that it was difficult for him to move: when walking, he leans on a stick. However, nothing prevented Milos Zeman, a real friend of Russia, to come to pay tribute to the memory of millions of our compatriots who gave their lives in the fight against fascism.