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In related news, EU representatives will discuss the issue of Canadian visas on Monday, with an EC source telling journalists that the commission expected EU countries would voice “strong solidarity” with the Czech Republic, the Czech news agency ČTK reported. Both Foreign Minister Jan Kohout and EU Affairs Minister Štefan Fuele will represent the Czech Republic at that meeting. The Czechs want to ask the European Commission and EU member states for support to persuade Canada to lift visa requirements. Canada reintroduced visas for Czechs after almost two years of visa-free relations. The Czech Republic responded to Canada’s decision by introducing visa requirements for Canadian diplomats.

The Czech ambassador to the EU, Milena Vicenová, has met with representatives of the European Commission, as well as her Canadian counterpart Ross Hornby, to discuss Canada’s recent decision to reinstate visas for Czech nationals. Canada took the decision on July 14 in reaction to the high number of Czechs, mostly from the Roma community, filing asylum applications. Mrs Vicenová said after the meeting that the EC had voiced support for the Czech Republic. The Czechs have asked Canada for changes, including the following: for its nationals to not have to travel to Vienna for visas or to fill-in more detailed paperwork than other EU members. The Czech Republic also asked that Canada provide a thorough explanation of its decision to reintroduce visas.

It wasn’t a very auspicious start, and it didn’t end very well either – Czech Television, the country’s national broadcaster, has confirmed that it’s withdrawing from the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest due to lack of public interest. The Czech Republic only made its debut in the competition in 2007, but its first three attempts have been disastrous – the most recent gaining the dreaded “nul points”.

The Czech Republic has filed ratification papers at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, becoming the 110th state to recognise the permanent tribunal’s jurisdiction. The statue will enter into force on the first of January next year. The Czech Republic was the last member of the European Union to sign up to the International Criminal Court, which led to criticism from Brussels.

EU Commissioner Jacques Barrot has said that the Commission wants to understand why asylum demands are being lodged by EU citizens in Canada before it reacts to Prague’s demands that visas be slapped on Canadians visiting Europe. He said it was paradoxical that EU citizens were applying for asylum in third countries. The Commissioner for justice, freedom and security said Canada’s complaints about the surge in Czech asylum applicants seeking to profit from its generous system needed to be probed. On the basis of resulting findings, the Commission could make a recommendation about whether to comply with the Czech demand for EU solidarity against Canada, Barrot said. The Commission recommendation – promised by September - must then be supported by member states for any across the board EU action to be taken.

The Czech Republic has pinned its hopes on the European Union for a forceful retort to Canada’s imposition of visas on Czech citizens. Prague has already officially lodged its demand that Brussels hits back with across the board visa requirements on Canadians. But the success of that demand looks far from certain.

The ministers of agriculture of the EU member states have approved an extension for the support currently being provided to milk producers. The European Commission will continue to purchase butter and dried milk that EU dairy farmers are unable to sell until the end of February 2010. The original program allowed the programme to run from March to August of 2009. The current low price of milk has caused a major problem for dairy farmers across the EU, and Czech farmers, among others, have held protests and blockaded traffic in recent months to protest a lack of aid. The Czech Agrarian Chamber has warned that 2,000 face unemployment and 20.000 cows could be slaughtered if the price of milk is not increased in the coming months.

A group of Czech senators could file a constitutional complaint against the Lisbon treaty – the EU’s reform document – as soon as the first half of August. On Friday, Civic Democrat Senator Jiří Oberfalzer confirmed the move, telling Czech Radio the challenge had the support of 17 senators. If it goes ahead, it will be the second time a complaint has been filed against the treaty in the Czech Republic. Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic’s parliaments have all approved the document but ‘Lisbon’ has not been signed by those countries’ heads of state. President Václav Klaus, who opposes the treaty, has made clear he could be the last to put his signature to paper. The Lisbon treaty must be ratified by all 27 EU states in order to come into effect.

The Czech Republic has fully recognized the International Criminal Court after President Václav Klaus signed on Wednesday into law the treaty on which the court is based. The Czech Republic was the only EU state not to have recognised the international court, which was established in 2003 and handles serious crimes against humanity and war crimes. Both chambers of the Czech Parliament voted to approve the treaty, known as the Rome Statutes, last year. In January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe criticized the Czech Republic for its failure to ratify the treaty.

The Czech Republic won a two billion international arbitration case against a Luxembourg media company, a Czech Finance Ministry spokesman told journalists on Wednesday.

The Luxembourg-based firm European Media Ventures demanded some two billion crowns, or more than 107 million US dollars, in compensation for their lost investment in a TV station in the Czech Republic.

The case is the second international arbitration the country has won in recent weeks. The Czech Republic still faces around ten such cases involving some 20 billion crowns, or more than 1.7 billion US dollars. Most of them deal with the alleged failure of Czech authorities to protect foreign investments.