Czech prime minister says AC/DC behind 'road to hell' comment
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek

Czech prime minister says AC/DC behind 'road to hell' comment

Mar 27, 2009 at 13:25 | Reuters
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Ousted Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek says he was inspired by the rock group AC/DC when he mocked U.S. President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plans as a "road to hell".

Topolanek criticised Washington's anti-crisis spending in a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday.

"AC/DC played here (in Prague) last week. And their cult song 'Highway to Hell' might have led me in that very improvised speech to use the phrase 'road to hell'," Topolanek was quoted by daily Lidovy Noviny as saying on Friday.

Topolanek, who is due to host Obama on in Prague on April 5 in a European Union-U.S. summit, said he would not apologise.

The comments jarred a carefully crafted consensus among EU leaders before next week's meeting of leaders of the G20 nations, including the United States, to agree ways out of the global recession. The Czech Republic currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

The day before his speech, Topolanek's centre-right government lost a confidence vote and he was forced to resign.

Web links to Kyiv Post material are allowed provided that they contain a URL hyperlink to the www.kyivpost.com material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. Otherwise, all materials contained on this site are protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced without the prior written permission of Public Media at news@kyivpost.com

All information of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency placed on this web site is designed for internal use only. Its reproduction or distribution in any form is prohibited without a written permission of Interfax-Ukraine.

Design & Development by MEMO.UA