Vaclav Klaus

Background

Klaus was born in Prague during the Nazi occupation.

Career

During the ruling of the President Havel and the Prime Minister Klaus the country managed to avoid “shock therapy”, though during the privatization the scheme of vouchers and coupons (like in many East European countries) was used. That helped to focus 75% of the country’s GDP in private enterprises. There were only two small demonstrations and there were no strikes during the whole transition period. The Czech Republic avoided unemployment and remained an “island of stability” in Eastern Europe.

At the end of November, 1997, the government of Klaus collapsed after financial scandals about a suppositive bribery. The Prime Minister resigned, that was immediately accepted by Vaclav Havel, who had been already criticizing him for a long time. This defeat didn’t influence Klaus’s activity. Being a pragmatist he maintained his credibility among certain people and kept to maintain interest for himself by his remarks about different events. In 1998 after snap elections he became the Head of the Parliament.

In 2002 Klaus’s party took the second place. He left the post of its Head and joined the Presidential Campaign and won the elections. On February 28, 2003 he became the President of the Czech Republic, which joined the EU in 2004.

Vaclav Klaus has never been a member of a Communist Party, but unlike Havel, who had never met with representatives of Communist Parties during his ruling, Klaus tries to cooperate with them in order to consolidate the community. He’s an adherent of free market trade and he considers current processes of European integration to be weakening of demarcation and introduction of wide protectionism.

Politics

In 1991 Klaus became the chairman of the Civic Democratic Party established by him. He won the elections a year after that and became the Prime Minister of the Czechoslovakia. Vaclav Klaus and his Slovak colleague Vladimir Meciar came to agreement of peaceful division of Czechoslovakia on June 20, 1992. On January 1, 1993 there appeared two independent states, which are the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

Being the Prime Minister, Klaus was ruling the country during the period of its transition from socialist to market economy. Unlike other neighbor countries that were oriented to socialist economy, the Czech Republic didn’t face hyperinflation (1000-1500%).

Membership

• Mont Pelerin Society

Connections

Václav Klaus is married to Livia Klausová. They have two sons, Václav (a private secondary school headmaster) and Jan (an economist), and five grandchildren.

Wife:

Livia Klausová

a son:

Vaclav Klaus

a son:

Jan Klaus

beloved:

Eva Svobodová

It has been claimed that Klaus had several extramarital affairs. The first alleged relationship might have been in 1991 with 29-year-old flight attendant Eva Svobodová.

beloved:

Klára Lohniská

In summer 2002, Klaus was photographed by a tabloid as having a "special relationship" with 24-year-old economy student Klára Lohniská.

beloved:

Petra Bednářová

In March 2008, Novinky.cz, citing a tabloid, claimed that Klaus spent the night after his second presidential inauguration (7 March 2008) with 25-year-old flight attendant Petra Bednářová. A tabloid reported in August 2011 that the affair of Klaus with Bednářová was continuing. In July 2013, Klaus and Bednářová (now referred to as his mistress) were reported to be still together.