Salon.com > Ian Traynor reports http://www.salon.com Wed, 30 May 2012 12:26:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 The prince of Prague http://www.salon.com/2004/07/28/prague_3/ http://www.salon.com/2004/07/28/prague_3/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2004 13:31:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/07/28/prague A couple of months ago, a ministerial Audi went roaring through the Czech capital with a journalist in hot pursuit. The reporter, from Mlada Fronta Dnes daily newspaper, was working on a series of articles on how the Czech Republic's political elite regard themselves as above the law. The car chase seemed to prove the point.

As the Audi bust the Prague speed limit by up to 50km an hour, the journalist struggled to keep up and then found himself hauled over by the police. Needless to say, the Audi was not stopped. It was carrying the then police minister, Stanislav Gross, who this week found himself appointed the youngest Czech prime minister ever, and at the age of 34, the youngest head of government in Europe.

The former high-speed train driver on the fast track to the top is renowned for his charm, his persuasiveness, and his talent for being all things to all people. The abuse of his police powers to get the reporter off his tail also offered a rare glimpse of the steel and the ruthlessness that has propelled the boyish working-class lawyer into the office of prime minister of the Czech Republic.

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