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A war of words erupted on Thursday between members of the Czech government and President Vaclav Klaus, over differences of opinion regarding Czech membership of the European Union. President's Klaus's comments leading up to Wednesday's signing ceremony in Athens - among other things that EU membership was a marriage of convenience rather than a marriage of love - have angered the government. On Thursday Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda accused President Klaus of making superficial statements about the EU, while the prime minister, Vladimir Spidla,

The Czech Republic's top officials are to celebrate Wednesday's signing of the EU accession treaty on Friday morning at the government headquarters in Prague. The ceremony will be attended by President Vaclav Klaus, Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla and Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda who signed the treaty in Athens. Former President Vaclav Havel, former Prime Minister Milos Zeman and former Foreign Minister and current President of the United Nations General Assembly Jan Kavan have also been invited to Friday's ceremony.

"This is the beginning of a new chapter in our country's history." The words of the Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla as he and President Vaclav Klaus put their signatures to the EU Accession Treaty during Wednesday's Athens summit. If all goes well the Czech Republic and nine other countries will become members of the EU in just over a year's time, on the 1st of May 2004. Radio Austria International's Kerry Skyring is in Athens covering the summit - earlier we asked him what the mood was like in the Greek capital.

Prime Minister Spidla spoke of the historic nature of the occasion. The treaty had closed a chapter of his country's past, he said, a chapter which was too often out of Czech hands, referring to the Nazi and Soviet occupations. President Klaus struck a more pragmatic tone, saying the treaty was not the closing of a chapter, but the beginning of a new era in which Czechs would have to work hard at home and defend their position inside the EU. In an interview published on Wednesday with the German weekly Die Zeit, President Klaus said EU accession was a marriage based on reason rather than love.

Leaders of the 10 leading candidates for membership of the European Union -the Czech Republic among them - have signed a landmark treaty in Athens granting them accession to the EU in 2004. The signing ceremony took place at the foot of the Acropolis, watched by leaders of the present EU 15. The treaty was signed by the Czech prime minister Vladimir Spidla and president Vaclav Klaus. Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda and the country's former chief negotiator with the EU, Pavel Telicka, were also due to add their signatures. The treaty must be ratified by all 15 member states and approved by referenda in the candidate countries.

Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, Foreign Affairs Minister Cyril Svoboda, and Czech President Vaclav Klaus will sign the EU accession treaty on behalf of the Czech Republic on Wednesday, at the EU Summit in Athens. Mr Klaus expressed his desire to sign the document, although originally the third signatory was meant to be the Czech Republic's former chief negotiator to the EU, Pavel Telicka. The Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda expressed satisfaction on Monday over the Czech president's decision. It remains unclear whether any of the presidents from the other nine EU candidate countries will be signing their countries' respective treaties.

The Hungarian government is celebrating a huge "Yes" vote in Sunday's EU referendum, but it was a result marred by low turnout. While almost 84 percent voted in favour, just 45 percent bothered to vote in the first place. Hungary's referendum was keenly watched by governments in other EU candidate countries, including the Czech Republic. Earlier my colleague Rob Cameron spoke to the Foreign Ministry's Jana Adamcova - the person in charge of the "Yes" campaign - and began by asking her for the latest figures.

Foreign Minister and the leader of the junior coalition Christian Democrats Cyril Svoboda said his party would push its leftist coalition partners to agree to public spending cuts to speed up the adoption of the euro currency. Svoboda said his party would urge the government to approve major fiscal reforms aimed at joining the euro between 2007 and 2009. This is a more ambitious target than has been proposed by the ruling Social Democrats who have largely spoken against radical spending cuts, especially in social welfare, and favoured the period between 2009-2011 as possible target dates for euro zone entry.

Meanwhile, the Lower House of Parliament has given its final approval to a law allowing the Czech Republic to hold a referendum on EU membership. The law stipulates that the referendum should take place over two days -on a Friday and Saturday. President Vaclav Klaus has the authority to set the exact date, with mid-June seen as the most favorable term.

The European Parliament has endorsed the admission of the Czech Republic into the European Union. 489 members of the European Parliament voted for the motion while 39 voted against it. An official ceremony, which is to take place next week, will mark the official accession of the Czech Republic to the EU. The European Parliament also voted for the other nine candidate countries to be admitted to the EU.