Related articles

EU border controls should be lifted for Czechs in late 2007, when Brussels plans to extend the Schengen area to the new member states, Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan said following a meeting with his counterparts from the EU, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. The ministers discussed the introduction of a new generation of the Schengen information system SISII the launch of which, in the spring of 2007, is a necessary condition for expansion.

This week we bring you mixed news from the Czech Republic on the euro; property owners complain to Strasbourg over rent regulation; the Czech Republic plans to increase foreign aid; the deputy prime minister proposes a package of radical economic reforms, and the finance minister locks horns with the Czech banking sector

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, on an official visit to Finland, has expressed a difference of opinion with his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonenon over the EU constitution treaty. In a joint news conference on Thursday, Mr Klaus said he was happy, referring to the treaty's rejection in the Netherlands in Wednesday's referendum vote. Mr Klaus called the referendum results "a victory for freedom and democracy in Europe". The Finnish president disagreed, saying she regretted the result. The Czech Republic's president is the only European head of state to express opposition to the EU constitution treaty.

After the French "Non" to the EU Constitution, Europe heard a resounding "Nee" from the Netherlands on Wednesday. With Europe still reeling from the shock, Czech politicians, both champions and opponents of the constitution, are sticking firmly to their views.

The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia will meet on June 9th to discuss ways of getting European integration back on track after the French rejection of the EU Constitution. The talks will take place within the framework of a planned summit of Visegrad states, a lose alliance of Central European countries. Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka, who will host the meeting in Warsaw, said the Visegrad member states had unanimously agreed to devote part of the meeting to an exchange of ideas that might give new impetus to the process of European integration. The Polish Prime Minister repeated his conviction that Poland should ratify the EU Constitution and said that he wanted to help France to remain the locomotive of European integration.

The Czech Republic will propose to its European partners that the ratification of the EU Constitution should continue but that the whole process should be delayed in the light of the French rejection of the treaty. Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek said on Wednesday that his three party coalition, which strongly backs the treaty, had given him a mandate to seek an extension of the ratification process at a summit of European leaders on June 16th. Mr. Paroubek said that the Czech government would press ahead with its information campaign on the EU Constitution despite calls from the Christian Democrats, one of the smaller parties in government, that it should be suspended, pending a decision by the EU leadership.

The dramatic outcome of the French referendum on the European constitution remains the big headline in the Czech Republic. Politicians, political commentators and editorial writers disagree about what the vote means for this country, but all agree that the French "No" will have major repercussions across the continent. While the Czech government has expressed disappointment, and is trying to salvage hope from the charred remains of the constitution project, one public figure in this country has responded with unconcealed delight - that's President

After weeks of anticipation this was the result that the heads of the European Union feared most: a resounding "No" by one of the union's founding members, France, rejecting the constitution. Pundits say the French had many different reasons for voting against, including disillusionment with the country's president. But the fact is following Sunday the future of the treaty - and European integration as a whole - is in doubt.

The International Monetary Fund's senior official in Prague says the Czech economy will not be able to sustain its current high growth unless key reforms are made to the country's public finance, pension and health systems. The IMF's Juan Jose Fernandez-Ansola said now is a good time to implement such reforms, given that the economy is growing and inflation remains low.

In 1989, at the time of the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia, most of the international media focused on those events. Even later, during the process of transition to democracy, the Czech Republic occasionally caught the attention of the world. Today - 15 years after the fall of communism - events in this country have disappeared from the front pages of the international press. Why is that? And does this lack of interest work both ways? Are Czechs interested in what's going on in other countries?