Surreal after-play

The Czech Republic found a suitably surreal note on which to close its chequered six months holding the presidency of the Council of Ministers. On Tuesday (30 June), the Czech presidency offered its “warm congratulations” to Chile for ratifying the Rome Statute, the international convention that establishes the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “The European Union is convinced that Chile will make a highly valuable contribution to the Court's work and we hope that Chile's accession will encourage other countries to consider ratifying the Statute,” said the Czech statement. No prizes for guessing which is the only country in the EU – and the only European country apart from Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova – not to have ratified the Rome Statute.