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President Vaclav Havel has said Czech citizens will not lose their identity after the Czech Republic joins the European Union. Speaking during a visit to fellow EU candidate Malta, the Czech president said he was convinced that nations would maintain their identity within a strong European Union. Mr Havel has decided to stay in Malta for an extra 10 days as a guest of his Maltese counterpart Guido de Marco. The president decided to prolong his stay because doctors said the climate would be good for his health. Mr Havel suffers from chronic bronchitis, and underwent surgery for lung cancer in 1996.

The European Union's enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen arrives in Prague on Thursday in a bid to ease tension caused by the dispute over the post-war Benes decrees, which sanctioned the expulsion of Czechoslovakia's large ethnic German community after the Second World War. Most of the expelled Germans took up residence in Austria or Bavaria, and there has been a bitter dispute in recent months over the issue of compensation. Mr Verheugen has already said the decrees will not affect the Czech Republic's bid to join the European Union, an assurance repeated by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a visit to Prague on Monday.

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair touched down in Prague on Monday for a brief visit to the Czech Republic, holding talks with Czech officials on his way home from the United States. Top of the agenda in Prague was the crisis in the Middle East - a Czech anti-chemical unit was recently deployed in Kuwait to protect the U.S. command headquarters in Kuwait City. But Mr Blair also found time to praise the Czech Republic for progress towards joining the EU, adding there was still room for co-operation within Europe on a "nation state"

The former leader of Austria's Freedom Party Joerg Haider said on Saturday that if his party remains in power after the elections Austria will veto the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union unless Czechs abolish the controversial post-war Benes decrees. Mr Haider also called for a referendum on EU expansion to be held in Austria.

A Czech delegation to the European Parliament has handed over a legal analysis of the controversial Benes decrees, which should help to clarify the Czech government's refusal to have them revoked. The decrees, which sanctioned the expulsion of some 2.5 million ethnic Germans and the confiscation of property of thousands of ethnic Hungarians at the end of the SWW, have evoked fresh controversy in central Europe after Austrian and Hungarian politicians called for them to be revoked since they were not in line with present day human rights legislation. The Czech government has refused to comply with this request saying that the Benes decrees were part of a broader post-war settlement framework in Europe and any move to rescind them could have serious legal consequences.

Public support for the Czech Republic's accession to the EU has reached an all time high. According to a survey conducted by the Centre for Public Opinion Research 59% of respondents endorsed the country's efforts to join the EU, while 25% were against. When asked how they would vote in a referendum 48% of respondents said they would cast their vote in favour of entry, a record high- up from 44% in November. Both the Czech government and the EU's Information Centre in Prague have recently stepped up their efforts to dispel fears of poverty and "second-class" membership which have plagued many Czechs, especially the elderly and socially weaker groups of the population.

As expected the Czech Republic's admission to the EU has become an important election issue. What came as a surprise is the fact that the planned "pro-EU strategy" of the vast majority of Czech politicians has turned into a defense of Czech national interests, in connection with renewed controversy over the Benes decrees, and promises that Czechs would not lose out by joining the EU.

The EC negotiator for the Czech Republic, Rutger Wissels said on Monday that the closing of the economic competition chapter during EU accession talks may be hampered by the Czech Republic's failure to speed up the restructuring of the steel sector. According to Mr Wissels, Prague is reluctant to realise that restructuring is necessary in order for the Czech steel industry to survive. He added that talks with the Trade and Industry Ministry were not going forward and that his colleagues were upset that the Czech side viewed the EC's proposed methods of solution as harmful.

A member of the European Parliament and representative of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, Daniela Raschhof said on Monday that the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Guenter Verheugen, had "gone down on his knees" before Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman. Mrs Raschhof's remark came in response to Mr Verheugen's refusal to make the Benes decrees, which sanctioned the expulsion of 2.5 million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia, an EU problem. Mrs Raschhof added that Mr Verheugen should have waited for the European Parliament to present its view on the Benes decrees before assuring Prime Minister Zeman that the decrees would not influence EU enlargement. The failure to do so proved Mr Verheugen's 'ignorance', Mrs Raschhof said.

Britain has rejected opening the issue of the post-war Benes decrees in connection with the expansion of the European Union. Germany, Austria and Hungary have been calling for the abolition of the Benes decrees which sanctioned the expulsion of ethnic Germans and Hungarians from Czechoslovakia after World War II and allowed for confiscation of their property. Certain groups in Germany and Austria have been trying to make the Czech Republic's accession to the EU conditional on revocation of the decrees. British ambassador to the Slovakia, Roderic Todd, said on Saturday that Britain saw no reason for the Benes decrees to play a role in European enlargement.