Vaclav Klaus heads for Moscow.

The Czech government, to the dismay of the eurosceptics, has indicated that the country will ratify the Lisbon Treaty in the very near future.
 
Through his dissent, and outspoken criticism of the treaty - and of the EU itself - President Vaclav Klaus created a political space that enabled him to negotiate for the best interests of the Czech Republic. By adopting his lone wolf position, he was able to conduct negotiations and apply pressure both supplementary and complementary to that of his national Parliament. It was a rare display of statesmanship indeed, in the bureaucratic quagmire that Europe's political elite has allowed itself to become.
 
Next Wednesday, Klaus will leave the Lisbon wrangle behind him, and take steps in another direction, aimed at ensuring his small nation continues to punch above its weight. He will meet Russian President Medvedev in Moscow, for "bilateral" negotiations. Sources suggest that the main topics will be energy, and the proposed European Security Pact.
 
By engaging in the former, Klaus will help the Kremlin to ensure that no common energy policy will be forthcoming in the short to mid-term. In the latter policy area, his support will help Medvedev to realise his ambition to replace NATO in Europe with a new entity that will be heavily influenced by Moscow. It is just a few short weeks since the US President Obama announced the cancellation of the proposed missile defence shield, to be based on Czech soil, so it would appear to be "out with the old... in with the new".
 
As Britain loses its will to govern itself, and the US appears quite happy to shake off the political and economic burden of defending Europe, the power base is clearly shifting to the east. Anglo-Saxon domination of Europe's affairs appears to be at an end.