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The Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, says the European Union should consider easing sanctions against Russia if a truce in Eastern Ukraine remains in place and if Russian gas supplies to Ukraine are resumed before the winter. Speaking on Tuesday, Mr. Sobotka said if the truce between Ukraine and Russia continued there would be no reason for the EU to tighten sanctions or to introduce new ones. The Czech president, Miloš Zeman, recently described sanctions against Russia as unnecessary and counterproductive.

The Czech Republic’s candidate for European commissioner, Věra Jourová, is set to stand down from her current post as minister for regional development on Friday. A spokesperson for President Miloš Zeman said he had already accepted her resignation. Ms. Jourová, who represents the ANO party, is set to take the justice, consumers and gender equality portfolio on the European Commission and will face the traditional “grilling” by MEPs on Wednesday. ANO have not yet announced her replacement in cabinet.

The EC has sent the Czech Republic a formal request for information regarding the alleged discrimination of Romany children in the Czech education system. The Czech authorities have two months in which to provide the information. Amnesty International has welcomed the move saying that the Czech Republic has for years failed to take effective measures to secure equal access to education for Romany children who are very often placed in special schools for children with learning disabilities. A group of Romany parents took their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in 2007 and won, but Amnesty says little has changed in practice since.

On Wednesday European Commission President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker revealed the portfolios intended for his new team of commissioners. The Czech Republic’s nominee Věra Jourová was assigned the portfolio of justice, consumer policy and gender equality, unexpectedly dashing the country’s hopes of winning a strong economic portfolio in the European Commission.

President Miloš Zeman has expressed the view that tougher sanctions against Russia would be in order if Kiev’s claims of a Russian invasion are shown to be true. If Russia is really sending its troops into Ukraine – and this scenario seems increasingly likely in view of the growing number of Russian soldiers there – then a strong response would be needed, the president said on Saturday. He added that the Czech Republic would also do well to increase its military preparedness and take a bigger part in multinational training exercises. At present Czech planes are helping to protect the airspace of the Baltic countries.

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has expressed support for the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to become the new head of the European Council. The Czech head of government said in talks with the outgoing European Council president Herman Van Rompuy that it would be suitable to give the post to a member of the “new” member states admitted in a big-bang expansion ten years ago. Mr. Tusk’s appointment would send a strong signal to Moscow as Poland has been one of the strongest advocates of sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine crisis.

Speaking ahead of an EU summit in Brussels on Saturday the Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, called for a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis. He pointed out that the mutual implementation of sanctions between the EU and Russia had done nothing to stop the violence in Ukraine and the situation was fast spiraling out of control. The Czech prime minister said the EU must initiate political negotiations with Russia before resorting to broader sanctions in order to break the circle of threats and violence. In this connection Mr. Sobotka criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for further escalating the tension by reminding the world that Russia was a nuclear power.

The European Commission has adopted a partnership agreement for EU structural and investment funds submitted by the Czech Republic. The document, which took three years to negotiate, outlines Czech investment strategy until 2020, and paves the way for the drawing of some 22 billion euros in funds.

The European Commission has adopted a partnership agreement for European structural and investment funds submitted by the Czech government. The document, which took three years to negotiate, determines the country’ s investment strategy for the next six year period. It paves the way for the drawing of over 22 billion euros which are to be used to create new jobs, boost competitiveness, fight social exclusion and support environmental protection projects.

President Miloš Zeman will not veto the government’s proposed new civil service bill but only as long as changes are made ensuring that deputy ministers are no longer political appointments. If these changes were no forthcoming then the presidential veto would almost certainly be used, the president’s spokesman Jiří Ovčáček announced on Monday. Talks between the president and government would take place aimed at resolving their differences over the new law aimed at paving the way for a non-politicized and professional civil service, the spokesman added. No precise dates have yet been fixed, Ovčáček said. The new law should be in place by the start of next year with Prague under heavy pressure from the European Union in Brussels to push through the long delayed measure. Deputy ministers are frequently political appointments under the current Czech system.