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The presidents of the Visegrad Group - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic meet regularly to discuss outstanding issues in bilateral relations, European affairs and security matters. This week their two-day summit took them to Keszthely Castle at Lake Balaton in Hungary.

In Business News this week; the cost of electricity is set to rise by 10%; the Czech crown has a record-breaking week against both the euro and the dollar; the Czech Republic lags behind when it comes to claiming EU funds, and Czech Airlines has started offering low-cost tickets on many of its European flights.

According to Hospodarske Noviny, the Czech government has lowered the target it set for over 500 civil servants to learn French fluently by 2009. The Czech Republic takes over the EU presidency from France at the beginning of 2009, and hundreds of civil servants had been sent to Prague's French Institute to gain a command of the language as part of the preparations. But now, the government has lowered its expectations, asking only for a basic knowledge of French from its employees. Time constraints have been blamed for move. The Czech Minister for European Affairs, Alexandr Vondra has been quoted as saying that he himself does not speak French, and finds it unlikely that he would learn it well enough to help him within a one-year time frame.

On Thursday, Czech unions launched a renewed attack on the government's financial reform package, in response to the Senate approving the reforms the previous evening. At a press conference on Thursday morning, the head of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions, Milan Stech, told journalists that the reforms would not benefit the Czech Republic's lowest earners, families and pensioners. He added that he would be prepared to organize protests, should that be the move that his colleagues would like him to take. Unions protested against the reform package earlier this year, most notably on Prague's Wenceslas Square in June. Having been approved by both the lower and upper houses, the reforms are now just waiting for the green-light from President Vaclav Klaus.

In recent days the Education Minister Dana Kuchtova has come under fire for failing to secure the drawing of around 60 billion crowns in EU funds for research and educational programmes. On Sunday Martin Bursik - the head of the Green party of which Ms Kuchtova is a member - conceded she might have to resign. For now, the minister has stuck to her guns, hoping to turn the situation around in time. So far, she has succeeded.

Former Agriculture Minister Milena Vicenova has been appointed the new Czech ambassador to the European Union. Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra made the announcement on Wednesday evening. Mrs. Vicenova will replace current ambassador Jan Kohout, who has been recalled before the end of his term in Brussels. The government said that it wanted to bring in a new ambassador now to prepare for the important period leading up to the country's presidency of the EU in the first half of 2009. According to Mr. Vondra, Mrs. Vicenova is only the second woman to join the diplomatic corps in Brussels. At present, only Luxembourg has a female ambassador to the EU, he said.

Milena Vicenova, former agriculture minister, was been appointed by the Czech government on Wednesday to become the new Czech ambassador to EU. She will replace current ambassador Jan Kohout at the beginning of 2008, a year before the Czech Republic will assume the presidency.

The Czech government is considering nominating former agriculture minister Milena Vicenova to the post of Czech ambassador to the EU. The current ambassador Jan Kohout is to be replaced by the end of the year, although his official term expires only in May 2008. The government says a new ambassador needs more time to prepare for the Czech EU presidency in 2009. The name of the new ambassador will be announced by next week.

In Business News this week: the Labour Minister unveils plans to part-privatise the pension system; has the government started selling off shares in CEZ? The Finance Ministry predicts that next year's budget deficit will be below 3%; revenue from tourism rises in the first six months of this year; and Czech dairies have a tough time squaring up to foreign competition.

The Czech deputy prime minister for EU affairs, Alexandr Vondra, has indicated that the EU reform treaty set to replace the rejected EU constitution contains a number of "blank" areas; he discussed the issue after a meeting with President Vaclav Klaus, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg on Thursday. Ratification of the EU reform treaty was not discussed per se, but all four representatives agreed to hold regular meetings in order to coordinate further political steps. Mr Vondra said the prevailing opinion was to have the EU reform treaty ratified in parliament as opposed to a referendum.

On Thursday, President Klaus also discussed a planned speech at the forthcoming U.N. General Assembly in New York. Mr Vondra told journalists he expected the president will use his visit to promote the Czech Republic's candidacy for a non-permanent member seat in the U.N. Security Council in 2008-2009.