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The first round of the Czech presidential election was considerably more exciting than many had predicted. A poor showing by long-time poll leader Jan Fischer saw him knocked out, while Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg caused an upset by taking almost a quarter of the vote to reach the runoff. Miloš Zeman came first, but with Mr Schwarzenberg’s momentum it looks like being a very gripping race for the Castle.

The first Czech president directly elected by voters will be either Miloš Zeman or Karel Schwarzenberg. The former headed the polls going into the first round, and confirmed the role of bookmakers’ favourite by coming first with 24.2 percent of the vote. However, while some thought Mr. Schwarzenberg might perhaps squeak past Jan Fischer (who had for a considerable period headed the polls himself), nobody predicted he could achieve a showing as strong as 23.4 percent.

In the next couple of weeks, four Czech soldiers are set to join other troops from Germany, Holland, Slovakia and others in Turkey. The NATO-approved mission aims to help the Turks protect their border with Syria and prevent the civil war in Syria from spilling over.

The Czech government will make a fresh effort to fight smoking and alcoholism, both of which have long been a serious problem in the country. After several failed attempts, the Health Ministry plans to introduce a general smoking ban in public spaces. In addition, the ministry will also push for a move that would oblige restaurants, bars and pubs to offer at least one non-alcoholic beverage at a lower price than the cheapest alcoholic drink.

Campaigning in the country’s first presidential elections is drawing to a close. With polling stations due to open at 2pm on Friday, the pressure is easing up and political debates are being replaced by a party atmosphere at concerts and happenings.

President Václav Klaus has hit back at critics of his New Year’s Day amnesty, giving public broadcaster Czech Television an exclusive statement in which he accused his political opponents and the media of orchestrating a smear campaign to discredit him towards the end of his second term in office.

“Twenty years on Czech and Slovak Squares” is the name of a new exhibition of photos, posters, newspapers and other memorabilia documenting the 1993 split of Czechoslovakia and developments in both countries since. The venue, the Czech National Museum’s New Building, is wholly appropriate, as in the past it housed the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly.

The locally-produced hard drug pervitin remains a serious problem in the fight against drug addiction in the Czech Republic. The drug has a similar effect as cocaine but is cheaper and easier to acquire on the black market. Efforts to curb its production by cutting illegal producers off from one of its essential ingredients pseudoephedrine have run into problems with Czech producers smuggling it large-scale from Poland and Slovakia.

On Monday afternoon, a popular theater, television and film actress Jiřina Jirásková passed away in her Prague home at the age 81 after a prolonged illness. Her acting career spans over sixty years and hundreds of roles.

A group of senators across the political spectrum is preparing a legal complaint to the country’s Constitutional Court challenging part of the amnesty declared by outgoing President Václav Klaus. The amnesty has already seen the release of thousands jailed for minor crimes, but is also expected to halt major corruption and embezzlement cases. The legal team behind the complaint says the amnesty tramples on the rights of victims.