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My guest in this week's One on One is Jana Hybaskova, former Czech ambassador to Kuwait and now candidate for the forthcoming European Parliament elections. Jana Hybaskova is the only woman - from any country - ever to have held the post of ambassador in Kuwait. But she's best known for the manner in which she left the post - she was sacked after criticising the Defence Ministry's decision to withdraw the Czech Army Field Hospital from the Iraqi city of Basra, criticism that earned her praise and scorn in equal measure. Jana Hybaskova spent her

Just a few weeks now and we will cross the magic line. On May 1st we will all wake up in an EU member state. Of course, we are entitled to a last minute fit of nerves. The Poles are buying up sugar by the carload, the Hungarians are worried that they will no longer be able to buy full cream milk and we Czechs have been given reason to believe that curved cucumbers are not allowed on the common market.

Three weeks before European Union enlargement, the United Nations released a report saying that some population groups in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia are threatened by poverty. While acknowledging that much progress has been made in the four Central European states, the UN report says these countries have to come up with specific policies to fight poverty or they risk having a significant section of the labour force as unemployable. Kerry Skyring spoke earlier to the director of the regional office of the United Nations Development Programme

Changes are in the pipeline for both the employed and unemployed - a new Labour Code is being processed and parliament has passed a new bill on employment policies. The European Commission has expressed serious worries about the state of Czech public finances, and the heads of the largest Czech banks and the prime minister have agreed on the need to strengthen creditors' rights by streamlining bankruptcy procedures. The Trade Unions warn against already excessive and rapidly growing household indebtedness. The Finance Ministry is reportedly seeking

Less than a month before the Czech Republic is due to join the European Union, the country's ruling coalition and opposition have clashed over a key issue: Czech policy and priorities within the enlarged EU.

President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla met on Wednesday to discuss Czech policy and priorities within the enlarged EU. The meeting was initiated by President Klaus who wished to discuss a government draft concept outlining Czech policy and priorities within the EU up until 2013. In mid-March, Mr. Klaus sent a letter to the prime minister with a list of objections and points that needed clearing up. The letter was published on the website of the presidential office on Wednesday. As the date of EU accession nears, talks on EU matters are intensifying at all levels. Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda travelled to Paris on Wednesday evening for talks with his French counterpart Michel Barnier. The main topic on their agenda is EU enlargement.

The Lower House on Tuesday voted that 17 of its members who have been observers to the European Parliament since last year will remain as temporary deputies until the June elections to the European Parliament. The upper house of parliament, the Senate, confirmed its seven observers last week. All 24 temporary deputies will represent the Czech Republic in the European Parliament from May 1st, when the Czech Republic joins the EU, to July 19th, when the newly elected deputies will be ready to take up their mandates.

One of the advantages of upcoming EU membership for the Czech Republic is that it will allow Czechs to become part of a unified labour market once all transitional restrictions are lifted. Not only will this ultimately enable them to work wherever they want within the EU, it will also allow them to avail of the social-security services that exist in their chosen country of residence.

The Czech Confederation of Trade Unions has warned people against already excessive and fast growing indebtedness. Every Czech household on average owes nearly a half-year's wages. Although the Central Bank has repeatedly expressed concern about the trend, commercial banks have not started worrying as yet.

Latest figures released by the Czech Statistics Office show that exports to EU states have risen significantly in the first two months of this year. Czech exports to the European Union have increased by 8.7 percent year on year to amount to 165.6 billion Czech crowns. The demand for Czech products mainly rose in Belgium, Italy, Austria and Germany. Exports to France, on the other hand, have decreased.