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The Czech government is increasingly taking a more pro-active role in the external affairs of the European Union. One of the focal points of Czech interest seems to be the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy, especially in relation to consolidating peace in the Balkans. The Special Coordinator of the EU Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, Erhard Busek, visited Prague this week in order to discuss future engagement of the Czech Republic in the Balkans.

Prior to the split of Czechoslovakia, Czechs and Slovaks understand one another's languages without any difficulties whatsoever. But now, 12 years later, young Czechs find it increasingly difficult to understand Slovak, and Czech Television has - for the first time - dubbed a Slovak-produced serial for adults into Czech. But the dubbing of Zachranari (Mountain Rescuers) has met with a mixed reaction from Czechs, with some people saying it is completely unnecessary

And now to a special programme that we will be broadcasting this weekend, in cooperation with BBC Radio 3 and Open Productions. Romany - or Gypsy - culture is traditionally oral, with a focus on song and storytelling, but there is a growing body of Romany literature. In the programme we meet Romany writers from the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, who share a desire to see Romany culture recognized and respected. I'm joined by David Vaughan who, along with the British broadcaster, Simon Evans, is co-author of the programme.

The exact nature — and, indeed, legality — of an elite police fraud squad codenamed the "Mill" has been the subject of heated partisan debate in recent days. The squad allegedly operated in secret and answered directly to the current Prime Minister, Stanislav Gross, during his tenure as Interior Minister. A parliamentary committee began special hearings this week aimed at uncovering the activities of the police squad, but as Brian Kenety reports, the story has become no less clear.

For many years Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's operatic work Zaide was regarded as a fragment. More than an hour of music was preserved but that was only the arias. Originally they were linked by spoken text, none of which survived. The German musicologist and conductor Andreas Kroeper, who now lives in the Czech Republic, says he has found the missing text and has proved it belonged to Zaide.

Staying on the subject of sport, the 20th Deaf Summer Olympics have just wrapped-up in Melbourne, Australia, games at which Czech athletes once again showed determination and the will to win. The Czechs dominated in athletics with two competitors earning either gold or silver medals in the 100 and the 200 metres, the discus, and the hammer throw, while a third sportswoman, the charismatic Tereza Vagnerova, earned bronze in the heptathlon.

Mazher Mahmood, a respected British undercover reporter for News of the World, has just made headlines here in the Czech Republic. On Tuesday, the Czech Intelligence Service confirmed that last June its men had detained and interrogated Mr. Mahmood when he was trying to leave the country with a false passport and other fake documents in his possession. The revelation has thrown a new spin on Mr. Mahmood's investigative reports about the Czech Republic, in which he claimed that it was possible for terrorists to enter the country illegally, buy false

For almost three years Radio Prague has been following the adventures of a brave young Czech couple, Michal Jon and Lucie Kovarikova, who set off to conquer the world on their bicycles. We followed their travels around Asia, Australia and even the Antarctic. We last spoke to the couple after they finished the South American part of their tour and were resting in California before they rode north to Canada, Alaska and through the whole of Canada to New York City.

Franz Kafka's writing has left an indelible mark on our perception of Czech bureaucracy as a surreal tangle of rules and regulations — impossible to follow or surmount. But with the birth rate at an alarming low and the pension system under strain, efforts are underway to cut through the red tape and help educated foreigners settle in the Czech Republic — and quickly. The fast-track to permanent residency, however, remains under heavy construction.

Among the better known destinations outside the capital Prague are Czech spa towns like Karlovy Vary and Marianske Lazne, also known as Carlsbad and Marienbad. For decades "taking the waters" on doctors orders, and paid for by the state, has been taken for granted in the Czech Republic. Now, though, spending time at the country's spas is becoming something of a luxury for Czechs, as the country's health care system is overhauled. To make up for the shortfall in patients, the spas have found the answer: more foreigners.