Czech official says EU acts like Third Reich

The spokesman for Czech President Milos Zeman has hit out at a decision by the European Union to potentially ban a key chemical in a popular local spirit, comparing the move to that of the Nazis during their World War II occupation.

"The Empire has decided that there will be no 'tuzemak' (Czech rum) to drink in the protectorate," Jiri Ovcacek wrote on his Facebook page. Following the 1939 annexation of Czechoslovakia it became a protectorate, while Adolf Hitler-ruled Berlin was informally referred to as the "Empire."

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a report in August claiming that rum ether, a component of tuzemak, which accounts for nearly a quarter of hard liquor sales in the country could be carcinogenic.

Tuzemak has been the national beverage since the middle of the 19th century, and ministers have closed ranks in...