Related articles

The pro-EU Yes for Europe group is considering whether to go ahead with a planned concert in the centre of Prague, in the wake of a decision by the city council banning the group from holding the event in the Old Town Square. The council has told the group they can hold the concert - to be opened by former President Vaclav Havel - on Wenceslas Square instead, but the group say this may not be possible. The council - which is controlled by the opposition Civic Democrats - banned the concert for noise reasons. The Civic Democrats have held several rock concerts in the Old Town Square in recent years.

Around 200 farmers have demonstrated outside the government offices in Prague in support of a proposal put forward by Agriculture Minister Jaroslav Palas. The proposal involves asking for more direct payments from the European Union, and a temporary grant of around 100 million dollars to resolve problems in the agriculture sector.

The opposition Civic Democrats have said that if Czechs vote to join the European Union in a forthcoming referendum, it should be followed by a second referendum on the planned new EU constitution. Deputy leader Jan Zahradil said on Monday the Civic Democrats would recommend voting against the EU constitution in a referendum, if they considered it excessively federalist. The EU's first constitution is currently being debated by the European Convention. The Czech Republic will join the union next May if voters say "yes" on June 13 and 14.

The sound of a clock ticking, a picture of a knot in an EU flag, and the words "Don't forget!" With these TV ads the government has launched the final stage of its campaign to get people to vote in the EU referendum in two weeks' time. A simple message, but right from the start the campaign has been heavily criticised by the opposition as superficial and naïve. So how does the government answer that criticism? My colleague Rob Cameron spoke to the person in charge of the campaign, the Foreign Ministry's Jana Adamcova.

The government's pro-EU campaign enters the final stage. This week, all Czechs eligible to vote will receive information about the upcoming historic referendum on the country's accession to the EU. Information about various aspects of EU membership will be distributed to all mailboxes throughout the country. The first referendum in Czech history will take place on June 13 and 14. Turnout in Czech elections has been very low in the recent years but the government believes its campaign will attract people to vote in the referendum.

In this week's Insight Central Europe - with just a week to go before Poles go to the polls in the country's EU referendum, the Catholic Church does a sharp U-turn on EU membership, but will the Polish people say "YES" on June 7-8? As 190 countries approve the world's first international treaty against smoking, we ask Slovak smokers what they think, and also pay a trip to Slovenia, which introduced tough anti-smoking measures last year. And looking back at the "unknown Holocaust" of Central Europe's Roma in World War Two.

Czechs living abroad have little interest in casting their votes in the upcoming referendum on EU membership, according to the results of a public opinion poll conducted by reporters for the CTK news agency. The results of the study also suggest that interest in the referendum among Czechs abroad is significantly lower than in last year's parliamentary elections. Those who want to participate in the referendum have to do so in the Czech Republic, a condition that many Czechs abroad object to. CTK points out, though, that these terms have little influence as out of the 239 eligible voters on record at the Czech Embassy in Bratislava, just hours away from the Czech-Slovak border, only twelve had shown a sincere interest in the referendum by Friday.

There's just one story for the papers today: the surprise resignation - now withdrawn - of Jaroslav Tvrdik. His U-turn came too late for the dailies of course, and pictures of a glum-looking Mr Tvrdik are splashed across the front pages. The country's most widely read paper - the tabloid BLESK -- sums it all up with the words "Tvrdik Packs His Bags!" Except now he's unpacking them.

Meanwhile a concert in support of EU membership planned for Prague's Old Town Square has been cancelled, after councillors on the opposition-controlled council decided not to allow the event. They said the concert, to be opened by former President Vaclav Havel, would be too loud. Prague City Council is controlled by the opposition Civic Democrats. The party supports EU membership, but says it's opposed to further European integration.

The government is to launch the final stage of its campaign to encourage citizens to take part in the referendum on joining the European Union in two weeks' time. The final stage will be launched on Sunday, with a series of adverts on television. Most Czechs are in favour of their country joining the EU, but public apathy has raised fears of a low turnout in the referendum. The existing government campaign has been criticised by the opposition and President Klaus as superficial and naïve.