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Christian Democrats not to Support the Cabinet
The opposition Christian Democrats are not going to support the Cabinet in a vote of confidence. This was announced by party chairman, Josef Lux at a press conference on Wednesday. Lucie Krupickova has the details
Josef Lux said the government was based on an agreement which does not guarantee its stability. He added that although its policy statement included many well-meant ideas it did not say how to achieve them.
"We are a bit surprised at the view of the ODS which claims the government is going to be a communist one and that it will govern badly. On the other hand, however, they are ready to support it. The Christian Democrats are not prepared to do that. We are ready to back good proposals, but not bad ones" Lux told the Czech press agency CTK.
The Christian Democrats doubt that Zeman's Cabinet will be able to deliver on its promises. Nevertheless, the party's decision not to support the new government, should not have any impact of the final result of the ballot. In a so called opposition agreement, the Civic Democratic Party has pledged to make it possible for the singleŠparty Cabinet to rule the country. The ODS representatives plan to leave the assembly hall during the ballot. In that case 74 Social Democratic MPs would be able to outvote the rest of the Lower House.
Dienstbier on Kavan
Few members of the new government have aroused more controversy than the Foreign Minister, Jan Kavan. He has faced accusations in the press of having collaborated with the communist secret police - paradoxically while he was actively helping Czechoslovak dissidents during his years of exile in Britain.
At the heart of the row is a secret delivery of dissident material from Britain to Czechoslovakia in 1981 - one of many organised by Mr Kavan. The delivery was uncovered by borderguards and led to the arrest of numerous dissidents in Czechoslovakia.
Mr Kavan himself has reacted with fury to suggestions that he may have deliberately leaked information about the delivery to the communist state security police. Radio Prague asked former dissident and later Czechoslovak foreign minister, Jiri Dienstbier, how he would assess the controversy. Mr Dienstbier, who is now a United Nations envoy in the former Yugoslavia, strongly defends Mr Kavan against the allegations.
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That was former Czechoslovak foreign minister, Jiri Dienstbier, speaking about the current Czech foreign minister, Jan Kavan.
Summer School of Slavonic Studies
Czech is not an easy language, but that has not deterred the 200 or so students from around the world who have come to Prague this summer to tackle the seven noun declinations and complexities of Czech verbs. They are studying at the Charles University Summer School for Slavic Languages and in four weeks they hope to make a significant step towards mastering what is often described as one of the most difficult languages in the world. Radio Prague's Catherine Miller went along to find out why they decided to spend these very hot summer days slogging away in the classroom...
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Despite the complexity of the language, their teacher, Jana Bischofova, has been impressed by her students' skills.
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But, as anyone who has ever tried to grapple with the language knows, there are some problems which just come back again and again...
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