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As the Czech Republic's membership of the EU draws nearer - with entry expected in 2004 - the country would be expected to be speeding up accession negotiations. But instead the process seems to be slowing down, just as public support for EU membership is also falling. Vladimir Tax has the details.

In modern European history, Samizdat - the writing, printing and distribution of literature that was suppressed and banned by the censors during Communism - represented a mass struggle for freedom that was often punished with years of imprisonment and even death. A major exhibition documenting this struggle will open at the National Museum in Prague on Thursday, called "Samizdat - Alternative Culture in Central and Eastern Europe from the 1960s to the 1980s". Dita Asiedu was at an early viewing of the exhibition:

With just over a week to go before the general election in the Czech Republic, political parties are jostling for voters in all possible ways. But how effective are their current pre-election campaigns? Alena Skodova tries to find out:

For the third time in his political career, Vaclav Klaus has a strong chance of becoming Czech Prime Minister. Such is the delicate balance of power on the political scene, that even if his right-of-centre Civic Democrats fail to win next week's parliamentary elections, they could still find themselves wielding considerable influence after the poll. Mr Klaus has also been tipped as a future president. The guru of the economic reforms of the early 90s, Vaclav Klaus is loved and hated in equal measure with his blend of popular rhetoric and economic

On Saturday, International Children's Day was celebrated throughout the Czech Republic. Towns and communities organised various events for children and hundreds of competitions and shows were prepared for kids and their parents in museums, zoos or castles. Some programmes were also arranged especially for disadvantaged children and children living in orphanages. Unfortunately, Czech children's homes are becoming more and more crowded as Pavla Horakova reports.

Czechs are preparing to vote in June's general elections. Ten years ago - at about this time - people were also getting ready to vote in general elections -elections which would inevitably lead to the break up of the Czechoslovak federation in 1993. A few days ago the Czech Academy of Sciences organized a round table debate in which historians could consider the matter with hindsight. One of the prominent Czech historians present was Jan Rychlik, who was a senior government advisor at the time of the break up, and I asked him whether the Czech-Slovak

As you may know, an international marathon of readings from Czech and Slovak literature started on Friday in Prague, and it is continuing in a kind of global relay race at 17 Czech Centres in 15 countries around the world. Alena Skodova has the details:

With only two weeks to go before the general elections here in the Czech Republic, some opinion polls suggest that 30 percent of first-time voters, that is young people between the ages of 18 and 21, will definitely not go to the polls. Of the electorate as a whole, the polls say around 9 percent are certain they will not vote. I spoke to three 18-year-olds - Kristina, Martin and Jiri - at a Prague secondary school. All three said they WERE planning to vote, so I first asked Martin how interested his friends were in the elections.

Last September, a gang of seven neo-Nazi youths took part in a shocking attack on a Jewish cemetery in Uhrineves on the outskirts of Prague. On Thursday, two of them, aged 16, stood trial in Prague. The court found them guilty of racially motivated crimes, but sentenced them to just 400 and 300 hours of community service. Pavla Horakova has more.

An international marathon of readings from Czech and Slovak literature starts in Prague at 2 o'clock on Friday afternoon. Over the next 200 hours - that is more than 8 days - the reading will continue in a kind of global relay race, at 17 Czech Centres in different cities around the world. Alena Skodova has the details: