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Ahead of the two-day EU summit in Brussels, the Czech Republic’s top officials met for foreign policy consultations at Prague Castle. The talks outlined two main priorities that the Czech Republic wants to defend at the summit – the need to preserve the Schengen open space and the creation of a joint border and coast guard which would help control the flow of migrants to Europe.

Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka has said German Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to visit Prague in the near future. Sobotka announced the visit, for which a date is still being sought, in answers to an on-line interview on the web pages of the tabloid Blesk. Topics for discussion would probably cover the immigration crisis, strengthening of the Schengen zone, trade issues, and modernization of industry. Relations between Prague and Berlin were sourced by the immigration crisis during which the Czech government took a stand against the mandatory share out of immigrants between EU countries.

Police on Monday raided the offices and flat of Cheb mayor Petr Navrátil. Searches were connected with the use of EU funds for regional projects. Navrátil said that police were interested in dossiers dating back three-and-a-half years, before he became the chairman of the regional organ responsible for evaluating and approving funded projects. The director of the body approving projects then, Petr Kušnierz, has already been sentence to five years in prison for abuse of his position and accepting bribes.

The Council of Europe has recommended that the Czech Republic do more to safeguard and promote minority languages such as German and the Roma language. The Strasbourg based human rights body said Prague should step up its efforts because minority languages are part of the country overall cultural heritage. It suggested more use of the two languages in education, media, and public life. German was mostly perceived as a foreign language, it added. On the other hand, it found that Polish, a minority language in the far east of the country, has fared much better and is in education and other areas in a much better position.

The Czech government has approved a move to join an upcoming court case in which the Austrian government and Greenpeace’s German branch challenge European Commission approval of British support for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the European Court of Justice. Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek said in a press conference after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the country is seeking to be a secondary participant in the two court actions. The minister said Prague believed that individual government’s rights to choose their own national energy policies and energy mix should be upheld and nuclear power should be one option.

The Czech government Wednesday refused to give its backing to a move by seven European states led by Slovakia to oppose new gas pipeline links from Russia under the Baltic. The proposal to join the joint approach to the European Commission was tabled before the government by Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek. But the government did not agree to support the move against Nord Stream II. Slovakia is one of the most vocal opponents of the move to expand the existing under sea pipeline that circumvents gas transit routes through Ukraine. Slovakia stands to lose substantial fees if Russian gas exports through Ukraine and Slovakia and onto Western Europe are eventually halted. The letter to Brussels was backed by all the Baltic States, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.

The Czech government on Wednesday approved moves by the European Commission to increase the representation of women on the supervisory boards of big companies. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on his Twitter account that the vote was not unanimous. The European Commission proposal is being piloted by Czech Commissioner Věra Jourová and was presented by her in Prague last month. The measure calls for at least 40 percent of women to be placed on management boards. That would be a major change for most Czech companies.

More than 90 percent of Czechs fear that European security will be threatened over the next 20 years, a new poll by the STEM agency suggests. A similar number said that the threat was likely to come from the east, while three-quarters of Czechs said the EU needed to do more in defence. The poll was conducted before terrorist attacks in Paris killed 129 people. The results of the poll contrast sharply from 2007, when 62 percent feared a threat to Europe, compared to the 93 percent now.

The Czech Republic is ready to contribute to planned EU support for Turkey to help the country deal with more than two million refugees, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka confirmed on Sunday ahead of the EU-Turkey summit. The Czechs are to provide the funds over two years. In total, the European Union is pledging to provide some three billion euros in funds to help Turkey tackle the migrant crisis but members require the country to boost security of its borders and to intervene effectively against people smugglers. The Czechs are to contribute between 300-400 million crowns in 2016 and a similar sum a year later. The largest contribution is to be made by Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

Members of the government are to take part in a special meeting to discuss security in the Czech Republic as well as the European Union ahead of a Council of Europe meeting on Sunday. The prime minister is to push for stronger controls of the EU's Schengen borders. Other aspects of the continuing migrant crisis are also to be discussed. Security is at the forefront following the recent attacks in Paris which saw 129 people die at the hands of extremists. Saturday's meeting is to be attended by the head of the police as well as intelligence officials.