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The center-left government has approved the Czech Republic’s accession to the EU fiscal pact, the CTK news agency reports citing the government’s state secretary for European Affairs Tomáš Prouza. The move is not expected to have immediate economic consequences and the country will be bound to abide by the pact’s budget restrictions only after it joins the euro zone. At present it is seen as a manifestation of the country’s pro-European course and commitment to deeper EU integration. Economists have welcomed the move saying accession to the fiscal pact would enhance budget discipline and prevent future Czech governments from raising debts excessively.

Overshadowed by the events in Ukraine, European heads of government are nonetheless meeting in Brussels with a view to hammering out an energy and climate change policy until 2030. A head on collision between countries backing an ambitious deal on several fronts and those, like the Czech Republic, calling for a more cautious and simplified approach looks like making any deal impossible.

The Czech Republic does not recognize the result of Crimea’s referendum Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka reiterated on Monday, saying the result went against Ukraine’s constitution and against the 1994 treaty guaranteeing Ukraine’s modern borders. The referendum, he stressed, was irregular, not allowing international observers and having taken place under a marked Russian military presence. The result has likewise been rejected by the European Union and the United States, who agreed to impose sanctions. On Monday, the Czech government expressed agreement that part of the EU association agreement be signed with Ukraine by the end of the week.

The Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, has called for a uniform, calm and consistent response from the European Union to the result of the referendum in Crimea. Speaking in Monday’s edition of the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Mr. Sobotka said Europe should above all not react hysterically to the result of the referendum, in which more than 95% of Crimean voters were reported to have backed joining Russia. The Czech leader emphasised that his country and its European partners regarded the vote as unlawful and in contravention of Ukraine’s constitution; he said the only solution could be if Russia and Ukraine sat down at the negotiating table.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has rejected a call from three former ministers for the Czech Republic to impose sanctions on Russia until it withdraws its troops from Ukraine’s Crimea region. The demand was made by Martin Bursík, Michael Kocáb and Luboš Dobrovský, all of whom served in right-wing governments. Mr. Sobotka said the current Czech cabinet would not under any circumstances impose unilateral sanctions. However, he and his colleagues were prepared to back a joint EU position on the matter, he said. Mr. Sobotka added that the Czech Republic had significant links with the Russian market and blanket sanctions would threaten jobs.

Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday, the Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, said his government wished to play an active role in the discussion on the future of Europe. Mr. Sobotka said European integration was in the interests of the Czech Republic as the country lay in the centre of the continent and worked closely with Eurozone states. For her part, Mrs. Merkel said she welcomed the pro-EU orientation of the new Czech government. Mr. Sobotka also held a meeting with the German president Joachim Gauck. On Friday the Czech leader is due to visit the HQ of Volkswagen, which owns the Czech-based Škoda Auto.

An opinion poll conducted by the STEM agency in February of this year shows that trust in EU institutions has dropped to an all-time low, sliding from 60 percent in 2009 to a mere 34 percent this year. The dramatic slump in support comes at a time when the new center-left government has announced a change of course –vowing to bring the Czech Republic back to the EU mainstream. I spoke to the head of the STEM agency Jan Hartl about what’s behind the loss of trust and what are the present pro-EU government’s chances of turning around Czechs’ increasingly

For most of the Czech Republic’s 10-year membership of the European Union, the single currency euro has been regarded with at best reserve and at worst the sort of suspicion you would set aside for your biggest enemy. With a new president and the new centre-left government of Bohuslav Sobotka, the attitude has switched again and now might be characterized as cautiously positive. But the debate is still continuing with the example of neighbour and euro-zone country Slovakia often taking central stage.

An opinion poll conducted by the STEM agency in February of this year shows that trust in EU institutions has dropped to an all-time low. The gradual slide from the initial 60 percent support rating to the present 34 percent is being attributed to a number of factors – including euro-sceptic governments, the euro debt crisis and negative reports in the media.

Only 34 percent of Czechs today ‘trust’ the European Union, according to a new poll released by the STEM agency. The numbers are the lowest in 20 years; the survey was first launched in 1994. Trust in the European Parliament, the poll suggests, is 30 percent – five percent less than last September. Another recent poll, suggested that Czechs considered elections to the EP the least significant in the election calendar. Trust in the EU long remained at around 50 or 60 percent, with the last high point being registered in 2009, when the Czech Republic held the EU presidency.