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Some two to three thousand Czech farmers worried about their livelihoods made their voices heard on Wednesday morning as they gathered in Prague to march to the Office of the Government and both houses of Parliament. Armed with a petition with over 100,000 signatures, the farmers called for an increase in state support to prevent the financial crisis they believe is facing the agricultural sector. Radio Prague's Rob Cameron joined the procession and spoke to us from just outside the Chamber of Deputies:

Farmers' organisations have collected almost 120,000 signatures on a petition calling on the state to help them cope with the financial crisis they say is facing Czech agriculture. The petition is to be presented to the government and both houses of parliament on Wednesday morning, when around 3,000 farmers are due to hold a demonstration in the centre of Prague. Farmers in candidate countries are not expected to receive the same level of subsidies as those enjoyed by farmers in existing EU members.

The Czech prime minister, Vladimir Spidla, has held talks in London with his British counterpart Tony Blair. The two men discussed the enlargement of the European Union, NATO, Czech emigration to the UK and the Czech government's plans to buy Gripen war planes, which are made by a British-Swedish consortium. On the question of Iraq, Mr Spidla said it was necessary to deal with the issue through the United Nations, which should give weapons inspectors a clear and strong mandate to inspect any site in the country.

Foreign ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovakia have expressed caution at a French-German agreement aimed at settling agriculture issues with European Union candidates. The agreement was billed in Brussels as a solution to the dispute over reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. It calls for a phase-in of farm subsidies after enlargement in 2004 and a subsidy freeze starting in 2007. But Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, following talks in Prague with Slovak counterpart Eduard Kukan, said the agreement was merely "a basis for further negotiation" and a possible step toward resolving the issue.

The Czech agriculture sector is facing a rocky season this year. Following the devastating floods in August, harvests are far worse than average and it looks as though neither the government nor the EU will come to the rescue with financial help. Furthermore, progress in the EU enlargement process was dealt a blow on Tuesday, when the Netherlands stated that they would block expansion if reform of the EU's costly farm aid policy were to fail. In Brussels this week EU representatives as well as candidate countries have come together for a summit

The ten countries in the forefront to join the European Union in the next round of enlargement put on a show of unity at a meeting in Prague on Tuesday. While the fifteen current EU members remain divided over how a bigger Europe will work, foreign ministers from the ten applicant countries said they were keen to proceed hand in hand in the final phase of their accession talks. Alena Skodova has more:

Foreign ministers and deputy foreign ministers from the ten countries hoping to become members of the European Union in 2004 have held talks in Prague, at the invitation of the Czech foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda. Mr Svoboda said while the ten EU candidates did have their own specific national interests, certain matters were important to all of them, including budgetary issues and agricultural policy. Pavel Telicka, the Czech Republic's chief negotiator on accession, has said in the past that Czech farmers would have to accept lower subsidies than those received in existing EU countries.

The Czech Republic's hopes of becoming a full member of the European Union came closer to reality at the weekend, after the people of Ireland said a resounding "Yes" to the Nice Treaty, seen as crucial to plans to expand the EU in 2004. Almost 63 percent said "Yes" this time around - as opposed to the 54 percent who said "No" in the first referendum last year. The result was much better than expected, ending weeks of nervous anticipation among the EU and the candidate countries. Stefan Auer is a Slovak politics lecturer teaching at University College Dublin's

Rob Cameron's guest on this week's One on One is Ramiro Cibrian, head of the European Commission delegation in the Czech Republic and EU ambassador to Prague. Their conversation takes in the miracle of mastering Czech in three years, where an ambassador goes to get away from the stresses and strains of work, and getting used to the meat and dumplings of Central Europe after the tapas and paella of Spain. Rob began by asking Ambassador Cibrian about the pros and cons of being one of the country's most senior diplomats.

Czech top politicians have welcomed the outcome of Ireland's referendum on the Nice Treaty after the final count put the "yes" side ahead by nearly 63 percent. Saturday's vote was Ireland's second referendum on the European Union's Nice Treaty, which is deemed essential for admitting 10 applicant countries, including the Czech Republic, to the EU in 2004. Ireland voted on Saturday in a re-run of a referendum held last year when the treaty was defeated by 54 percent with only a third of the electorate voting.