国际英语新闻:Czech president calls attention to slowness in trial proceedings, infrastructure constructio

PRAGUE, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Czech President Milos Zeman presented his Christmas message on Thursday, drawing attention to the slowness in trial proceedings, housing and infrastructure construction in the country.

"I would summarize the problem I want to talk about in one word. Slowness. Slowness of court proceedings, slowness of construction process, slowness in the construction of transport infrastructure," he said, citing examples of trials lasting 10 to 20 years, while warning against highway construction that takes 13 years.

In the message, Zeman praised the low unemployment rate, stable economic growth, relatively low state debt and the growth of the average wage and old-age pensions in the country.

Zeman also talked about climate change in his message. Calling himself "a heretic of the climate change debate", the president said he was unsure whether the decisive factor of the planet's warming was human activity.

"I believe that the discussions on climate change are becoming a new religion, and therefore let me be a heretic," he said, warning that the European Union (EU) should not become an environmental open-air museum with a lower standard of living under the influence of climate protection measures. He added that he would not like green banking in the EU to favor green projects over economically meaningful ones.

Zeman's speech about climate change was criticized by scientists and experts, according to reports of Czech News Agency.

Jiri Kozeluh from Friends of the Earth said scientists had proven the dominant influence of mankind by means of measurements and calculations.

Michal Marek, director of the Global Change Research Institute (GCRI) of the Czech Republic, said Europe was responsible for the Industrial Revolution. "If Europe is having any intellectual standard, it should set an example," Marek said.