Press Review | All stories

One of the main items making headlines is the consensus reached by the Czech coalition government in preparing its state budget proposal for 2003 - all the papers report on negotiations involved within the coalition to settle on a proposed yearly deficit acceptable for all its MPs, especially Hana Marvanova, whose voice is crucial for a slim government majority in parliament. Under pressure by Ms Marvanova an initial deficit proposal of over 150 billion crowns, was renegotiated to a lower number of 111.3. Ms Marvanova has also stipulated written

"The Irish have given the green light to enlargement", "The Irish have opened the door to the EU" - these and similar headlines dominate today's front pages. Nearly all the papers also feature photos of a group of young Irish EU enthusiasts waving the European Union flag.

Choosing a successor to President Vaclav Havel continues to make headlines today. All the papers report on a new opinion poll showing that the vast majority of people - 85 percent to be exact - want to choose their president themselves, rather than let parliament decide for them. The idea was recently revived by the right-of-centre Civic Democrats - who originally rejected it - as the only way to get party leader Vaclav Klaus installed at Prague Castle.

There is a mixture of different stories and photos featured on the front pages of today's newspapers, ranging from one showing a burning fast train in east Bohemia to another featuring enthusiastic voters of Saddam Hussain during Tuesday's referendum in Iraq. But it's mostly domestic stories that prevail in the Czech press today.

Various forms of international terrorism have become a fixture on the front pages of most Czech dailies - and today is no exception. The papers report on the foiled hijack of a civilian airliner bound for Jeddah, there is an eyewitness account of the explosions on Bali by a young Czech tourist who escaped with only light injuries and there is much speculation surrounding the identity of the serial killer on the lose in and around Washington.

All of Tuesday's papers carry photos from the Indonesian island of Bali, which became a terrorist target last Saturday. LIDOVE NOVINY, PRAVO and HOSPODARSKE NOVINY lead with articles about the tragedy, for which the Indonesian government and the United States blames the Al-Quaeda network.

Reports of the bomb blasts on the island of Bali that killed close to 200 people fill all of today's front pages. "A tourist heaven turns into hell" says the lead headline in Lidove Noviny. The paper carries a snapshot of two Canadian tourists kneeling in silent prayer at the scene of the massacre.

All Friday's front pages are dominated by photos of the leader of the opposition Civic Democratic Party, Vaclav Klaus, who announced on Thursday that he is stepping down, saying he wants to run for president. Most papers also report on a Czech Airlines captain who was detained by the British authorities in Birmingham on Monday morning after they found a weapon in his luggage. And this year's recipient of the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature, Hungarian novelist Imre Kertesz also makes the front page news today.

"The Czech Republic - Europe awaits you" reads the top headline in MLADA FRONTA DNES this Thursday and that's more or less the story in all the Czech media, a day after the European Commission released a key progress report rating EU candidate countries; in the report the Czech Republic fared better almost than ever before. Now, the first wave of an historic ten-country expansion has gained full momentum, and the future of the Czech Republic within the EU seems assured if the country's citizens say yes in a referendum on integration early next year.

All of Wednesday's papers lead with stories connected to the Czech Republic's plans to join the European Union. LIDOVE NOVINY says Brussels' recommendation that the Czechs be accepted as members is a historic step, while PRAVO and MLADA FRONTA DNES report on next spring's planned referendum on membership.