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One of the key issues of the upcoming Czech EU presidency will be the future of the Lisbon treaty, but the Czech Republic is the only EU country that has yet not voted on the reform document. Six weeks before the Czechs take over, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has moved to deal with his party rivals and get the treaty out of the way.

In Business News this week: the EU has agreed on new agricultural policy, which Czechs do not support; Russian oil firm Lukoil wants to buy a stake in several Czech refineries; a packaging firm scoops the title of Business of the Year; over a half of Czechs find it difficult to get by on their current income, and Czech hoteliers are registering a decline in the number of guests.

Two nationalist groups says they will demonstrate against the Lisbon treaty next Tuesday, when the Constitutional Court rules on whether the document is in line with the Czech constitution. Law and Justice and the National Party say it will be a quiet, symbolic protest. Demonstrations are banned within 100 metres of the Constitutional Court.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek says there are two choices before the Czech Republic: accept the European Union’s Lisbon treaty, or become a vassal of Moscow. In an article in the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes, he said it was better to be in than out of the EU, which like NATO could be a barrier to Russia’s imperial ambitions. He said President Václav Klaus, one of Lisbon’s most vocal critics, had had to make a similar choice when he signed an association agreement with the EU when he was Czech prime minister.

Mr Klaus is regarded as being relatively pro-Russian in his views. He is close to the anti-Lisbon Pavel Bém, who is standing against Mr Topolánek in a vote for the leadership of the Civic Democratic Party in two weeks’ time.

The Czech Republic is one of the few states in the European Union not to have ratified the Lisbon treaty, which is aimed at reforming how the bloc is run. The Czech Parliament is expected to vote on ratification during the first quarter of next year; that is, during the country’s first presidency of the EU.

The two main political parties, the governing Civic Democrats and the opposition Social Democrats have begun talks over the impending Czech presidency of the European Union. The move is widely viewed as a temporary ceasefire between the two rivals. According to media reports, both parties have dispatched two emissaries who will be tasked with agreeing on a series of principles that the rival parties can agree upon - including approving the Lisbon Treaty - as the Czech Republic assumes the presidency of the EU on January 1. However, the move has been met with criticism from Pavel Bém, the mayor of Prague who is set to challenge the current head of the Civic Democrats Mirek Topolánek for his leadership post later this year. Mr Bém described the talks as a kind of second “opposition agreement” referring to the notorious pact between the two major parties which enabled the minority Social Democrats to govern between 1998-2002 with the tacit backing of the then opposition Civic Democrats. However, this comparison has been dismissed by those involved in the talks.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic is convinced that Czech EU presidency in the first six months of next year will move Serbia and the western Balkans closer to EU membership. He made the statement after a meeting with his Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg on Friday. Mr Schwarzenberg said it would still take some time before Serbia was admitted to the EU and stressed that Serbia would have to work hard for it. Czech diplomacy previously announced that bringing the western Balkan countries closer to EU membership was one of its EU presidency priorities.

On Wednesday the Czech government unveiled the new logo representing the country during its EU presidency, which its takes up for a six-month period on January 1. The logo – which features colourful block letters – was unveiled in a special ceremony by the prime minister. Radio Prague has more on the new design.

The Czech president Václav Klaus has caused a diplomatic upset this week on his state visit to Ireland. His Irish hosts didn’t take kindly to comments at a press conference following a private dinner with British-born businessman Declan Ganley, who spearheaded the “No” campaign against the EU’s Lisbon Treaty. Reacting to the criticism, Mr Klaus accused the Irish foreign minister of “hypocrisy”.

The Czech president Václav Klaus is no stranger to controversy. A long-time opponent of EU integration, the president has signalled his opposition to many of the pillars that make up this organization – from the euro to the hotly debated Lisbon Treaty. On Monday, during a visit to Ireland, the rhetoric was upped a notch, with the president openly labelling himself as an “EU dissident.” But the comparison to the 1989 anti-communist dissident movement is likely to strike a chord with many.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek says measures to deal with the financial crisis agreed on by European Union leaders are likely to be implemented during the Czech Republic’s presidency of the EU, which begins on January 1. Speaking after a special summit in Brussels on Friday, Mr Topolánek told reporters the measures would probably be introduced at a summit in March.