A Czech military band played the Stars and Stripes as Madeleine Albright stood to attention in front of a statue of Czechoslovakia's first president in Hodonin's Masaryk square. Albright was born Marie Jana Korbelova in Prague in 1937, the year Masaryk died. Her Jewish parents fled first the Nazis and then the Communists, both of whom were utterly opposed to Masaryk's humanist ideals. Mrs Albright paid tribute to the father of Czechoslovak independence, beginning her address in fluent Czech before switching to her adopted tongue.

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Her speech was followed by the Czech national anthem, Kde domov muj, and tears were clearly visible in her eyes as she sang along. The song translates as O Homeland Mine, and there has been much speculation recently that Mrs Albright might return to her homeland to take up the post of Czech president when Vaclav Havel steps down in 2003. Last week the Secretary of State firmly denied she was considering the post, but on Monday Mr Havel repeated his wish to see her become his successor. Mrs Albright, standing alongside him, smiled slightly but said nothing. She might be Mr Havel's choice, but the president is elected by members of parliament. Winning their support would be something else altogether.

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As expected they are the Interior Minister Vaclav Grulich, who has suffered from chronic health problems, Jaroslav Basta, the Minister Without Portfolio who is responsible for the failure of the government's Clean Hands Operation Transport Minister Antonin Peltram, whose performance has suffered from communication problems with his subordinates and the media, and Regional Development Minister Jaromir Cisar, who has failed to revitalize the country's dormant housing market.

All four ministers were slated to go and all four have been unwilling to admit they have a problem. Forcing their way through a throng of journalists as they emerged from the Prime Minister's office on Monday night ministers Peltram and Cisar were clearly embarrassed, one noting that he might resign of his own accord the other admitting that his dismissal had come up but that it was not the main objective of the meeting with the Prime Minister. As for Interior Minister Vaclav Grulich whom the Prime Minister met with on Friday, he has allegedly received a fortnight's grace to decide whether he wants to resign of his own accord or be dismissed. Inside sources say Grulich has been offered a leading parliament post in exchange for his present one.

Although the names of these ministers' replacements are being widely discussed in the media they still have to be officially confirmed - all four are party members and all four are younger faces. More information should be made available at a press briefing this coming Friday. According to the Prime Minister's most recent statement the planned changes at ministerial posts are to take place one a week, in order to enable a smooth transition, with Jaroslav Basta allegedly first in line.

While the Civic Democratic Party may feel satisfied that it has received its pound of flesh in return for supporting this year's state budget, the remaining opposition parties in Parliament - both the Communists on the left and Christian Democrats and Freedom Union right of centre - remain generally unconcerned by the pending changes, viewing them as yet another insignificant political dance which is part of the power-sharing pact between the two strongest parties on the Czech political scene.

The British government has selected the Czech Republic as one of only twelve countries throughout the world to be given the designation "a market for special promotion".

Commercial attaché at the British embassy in Prague, Mike Connor, said that the reason for this decision is that the British government believes that there are untapped opportunities for British companies to increase trade with and investment in the Czech Republic.

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Bilateral trade has seen dynamic growth since 1992. UK exports in 1998 accounted for about 4 percent of all Czech imports and although there has been a surplus on the British side, Czech exports to Britain grew faster than imports from that country.

As far as investment is concerned, British investors have been relatively cautious with UK investment accounting for some 8 percent of the total foreign direct investment in the Czech Republic since 1990. However, there have been a number of significant acquisitions with UK retailers, in particular, being extremely active in the market. Overall there are more than 300 British companies with representational offices in the Czech Republic with many more being represented through agents.

The British ambassador to Prague, David Broucher, pointed out that there are also many non-business links between the two countries, namely in the cultural sphere.

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