Prague - Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder came to lend his personal support to the Czech Social Democratic Party in the run-up to the European Parliament elections.
Schroeder attended a ČSSD election rally in Otrokovice. He is still to appear at similar events in Uherský Brod and Uherské Hradiště.
At the rally, Schroeder said it was important for young people to be allowed to study at universities without paying tuition fees, according to the press agency ČTK.
He also stressed the need to protect the rights of employees.
It is not the first time a foreign politician joins the Czech Socialists' election campaign. In the past former British PM Tony Blair visited the country to help the ČSSD with its election promotion. Blair even provided the ČSSD with a double-decker for their campaign.
Leader of the British conservatives David Cameron visited Prague the past weekend to boost support for Civic Democrats' chairman and former PM Mirek Topolánek.
The last time Schroeder was a guest of the ČSSD election campaign he climbed the Říp mountain, some 80 km north of Prague.
According to the legend, the mountain was the place where the first Slavs settled. Interestingly, the name of the hill comes from a German word "rip", which means elevation, hill.
