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The state attorney in the trail against the former governor of Central Bohemia David Rath has revealed that he appealed the verdict according to which Rath was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for corruption. State attorney Petr Jirát says he wants tougher punishment for the former governor. A regional court in Central Bohemia found Rath guilty of accepting bribes and manipulating public tenders linked to funding from the European Union. Rath, who pleaded not guilty, appealed the verdict on the spot.

Dutch politicians have this week floated the idea of a smaller area within Europe’s open Schengen zone – also including countries such as Germany and Belgium – where passport controls would be carried out at the perimeter. What would such a move mean for the Czech Republic and other states left outside such a “mini-Schengen”? That’s a question I put to Benjamin Tallis from Prague’s Institute of International Relations.

The Czech intelligence services were aware of the movements of a terrorist suspect through Czech territory several years ago, Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec told journalists in Brussels on Friday rejecting speculation that the Czech secret service was sleeping on the job. Reacting to information from French sources that one of the persons linked to the Paris attacks had crossed the Czech Republic twice, five and seven years ago, Mr.Chovanec said his movements had been closely monitored and reported to foreign intelligence services. According to the French judiciary, one of the French jihadists, questioned after his return from Syria to France, testified that the alleged organiser of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, had ordered him to travel via the Czech Republic so as not to be detected.

By attending a rally organised by Bloc against Islam in Prague on Tuesday on the occasion of November 17, President Miloš Zeman had distanced himself from democratic values, a group of five Czech EU deputies wrote in a letter addressed to the Czech head of state. The deputies, including Michaela Šojdrová of the Christian Democratic Party and Jaromír Štětina for TOP 09, criticize the Czech president for supporting the initiative Block against Islam, which they call a fascist-style movement. President’s spokesman Jiří Ovčáček has rejected the criticism, arguing that the deputies are merely attempting to attract media’s attention.

The Vice-President of the European Commission and EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has postponed her visit to the Czech Republic, originally scheduled for Thursday. She was requested to change her plans by Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, who suffered a leg injury, the ministry’s spokeswoman said on Thursday. Citing a highly-placed EU source Czech Radio’s news station Radiožurnál said the real reason may have been president Zeman’s controversial appearance at Albertov, when he voiced support for those opposing more immigrants coming to the country. Ms Mogherini was also set to meet with PM Bohuslav Sobotka, President Miloš Zeman and Defence Minister Martin Stropnický.

For the first time ever, the value of Czech crowns in circulation has exceeded 500 billion crowns. The figure was reached on Friday, the Czech National Bank revealed. The amount translates into more than two billion individual banknotes and coins. At some point though the country is slated to join the Eurozone, giving up the crown for the euro – the only question is when.

The Czech Republic wants Britain to remain part of the EU, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Friday. The bilateral talks in Prague focused largely on Britain’s demands for EU reform which would enable it to remain part of the alliance. The Czech prime minister said his country was ready for a pragmatic debate on the proposed changes but stressed that the basic principles of the union, such as freedom of movement and equal rights of EU citizens, should not be abandoned.

The Czech Republic has won another round in its international arbitration battle with the blood products company Diag Human. A court in Amsterdam backed earlier rulings that the country was not liable to pay more than 8 billion crowns in damages to the blood products company. That some was set in a 2008 ruling of the alleged damages to the company when the Czech Republic withdrew from an earlier agreement. The latest success was announced Thursday by Minister of Health Svatopluk Němeček

The Visegrad Four group of Central European countries, comprising the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, will collectively boost its aid for Africa by 400,000 euros, or around 11 million crowns, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka announced on Thursday. The four countries will also earmark 300 more people to help in the European institutions dealing with asylum policy and border protection. Sobotka, who is also representing Poland’s interests at the EU summit in Valetta, Malta, during its political changeover met with his Slovak and Hungarian counterparts in the margins of the meeting. The Czech Republic was originally earmarked to provide 600,000 for the new EU fund to help development in African countries likely to be the main sources of emigrants.

The two-day Prague European Summit begins on Thursday in the Czech capital. This session of strategic thinking about European issues is likely to be focused at least in part on the current immigration crisis, situation in Ukraine, and threat from terrorism. More than 100 representatives from other EU countries and European institutions are expected to take part. One of the key speakers Friday will be the first vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, who will address the question of what changes the EU can make itself to deal with current challenges.