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Prime Minister Petr Nečas has expressed support for Turkey’s bid to join the EU. Following talks with the visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Nečas said Prague fully supported Ankara’s ambition to become a fully-fledged member of the alliance on condition that Turkey fulfills the respective admission criteria. The Turkish prime minister welcomed the stand saying Turkey had been standing outside EU gates for more than 50 years and that the delaying of its admission further was unforgivable. This was in reference to the view of some EU members that as a Muslim country Turkey should be offered a close partnership rather that fully-fledged membership.

Talks between the two heads of government also covered business and security matters, among others the role of the Czech armed forces in helping to guard the Turkish border against possible attacks from Syria.

The president-elect, Miloš Zeman, has told the Czech daily Právo that the flag of the European Union will fly at Prague Castle after he assumes office. Mr Zeman told the newspaper that he would invite European Commission President Jose Barroso to attend a special ceremony during which the EU flag would be raised. The step is a departure from that of Mr Zeman’s predecessor Václav Klaus, a well-known critic of the EU, who refused such a move.

In the interview, the president-elect also told Právo that he would transfer the agenda of presidential pardons to the Justice Ministry; ahead of the elections, Mr Zeman maintained that he would never declare an amnesty, a reaction – at least in part – to one declared in January by Mr Klaus. The New Years Day amnesty controversially halted, or threatens to halt, a number of major corruption and economic crime cases.

The Czech Finance Ministry has worsened its economic prognosis for the upcoming years in a new micro-economic analysis released on Thursday. According to the new estimates, the Czech GDP will grow only by 0.1%, compared to the 0.7% that was estimated in October. The Czech National Bank has previously placed the estimate at 0.2%. The Finance Ministry has dampened its prognosis because of the anticipated slowing down of growth in the Eurozone countries, which will influence Czech exports. The analysis predicts that the economic growth will pick up in 2014, when the economy should grow by 1.4%.

Outgoing President Václav Klaus, who steps down in a little over a month, is weighing the possibility of a post within the structure of the European Union, Czech daily Lidové noviny reports. According to the newspaper, citing an anonymous source close to the president, there is a possibility the former head-of-state would even be “satisfied” with the post of euro MP, noting elections to the European Parliament are scheduled for next spring, enough time for Mr Klaus to launch a new party to back his bid. Mr Klaus is widely-regarded as a staunch eurosceptic opposed to further federalisation; any new party formed by him would be expected to have a strong anti-federalist platform. Several highly-placed members of the Civic Democratic Party that he once headed, meanwhile, expressed support for the outgoing president continuing in politics. One of Mr Klaus’ closest advisors, Ladislav Jakl, told the daily he had no information about the president’s plans.

The Czech government is considering equipping and training a Malian army battalion within a possible EU mission, Prime Minister Petr Nečas said on Wednesday, after the cabinet session. He added that Prague was primarily negotiating the possibility with France, which put boots on the ground in Mali after Islamist militants were said to be threatening the south of the country. Great Britain is to send 330 troops to help. Sending Czech military instructors would require the consent of not only of the Czech government but also of Parliament. Prague is considering not only providing military expertise and equipment but has made clear it will send an additional three million crowns to Mali in humanitarian aid.

Within hours of being elected president, Miloš Zeman called for early parliamentary elections, leading to speculation about the chances of Petr Nečas’s right-of-centre coalition serving its full term. Now the embattled prime minister is coming under pressure from within: TOP 09, perhaps buoyed by their chairman’s showing in the presidential vote, on Tuesday issued a demand that opens a fresh fissure in the government.

TOP 09, the second largest party in the government, will only sign a new coalition deal with the Civic Democrats and LIDEM if it contains a commitment to the Czech Republic joining the EU’s Fiscal Compact by the end of 2013. The Czech Republic and the UK are the only members that have not signed up to the treaty, which sets strict limits for the budget deficits of eurozone states. TOP 09’s Miroslav Kalousek, who is the minister of finance, announced the demand after a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday.

Czech recipients of EU funds received nearly 403 billion crowns, or 52 percent of subsidies earmarked for Czech Republic for the period of 2007 – 2013, according to a report by the Ministry of Regional Development released on Friday. The total amount of EU funds allocated for the Czech Republic for the seven year period reached nearly 785 billion; however, the Czech authorities have registered over 92,000 individual applications for EU subsidies totalling over 1.34 trillion crowns.

A new gas pipe called Gazela, which will connect the Czech Republic to the Russian pipeline Nord Stream, has been officially opened on Monday in the western Bohemian town of Přimda. Prime Minister Petr Nečas and representatives from Russia and Germany took part in the ceremony. The Nord Stream pipeline delivers gas to EU countries without going through Ukrainian territory, which will ensure more secure delivery and less expenditure on transit fees. The 166-kilometer Gazela pipeline was built within two years and cost around 10 billion crowns.

Economically speaking, the year 2012 was a difficult one for the Czechs. The country’s economy, heavily dependent on exports to the eurozone, is according to most estimates set for a contraction of around one percent. Wavering demand from the euro area along with weak and fading domestic spending are considered the main reasons behind the decline, not helped by the government’s austerity and tax hikes. In 2013, the eurozone is generally expected to return to moderate growth – but will this be enough to revive the Czech economy as well? That’s a