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Prime Minister Petr Nečas says the decision on whether to aid the eurozone via the IMF will be made by the government, rather than the Czech National Bank. For his own part, the prime minister said he is opposed to participating. The government is set to discuss the matter on Wednesday, though it is not certain that a vote will be taken. Mr Nečas said he is aware of the complicated political situation caused by the Czech Republic’s reticence, but emphasised that he would not offer a stronger statement because clear conditions for an agreement between European leaders have not been given. Eurozone representatives last week agreed to give the IMF a 200 billion euro loan, which would then be lent to the EU states in economic crisis. Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has voiced his support for providing 90 billion crowns towards the agreement.

The EU’s plan to save the euro has in recent days divided the Czech political scene. While the fiercely eurosceptic President Václav Klaus said the country should stay out of the planned loan to the IMF, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg noted the Czech Republic would have little choice but to approve it. On Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas came out to clarify the government’s position – and hinted that if it were up to him, the government would say no.

The Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, has indicted that the Czech government would have little choice but to approve the loan in view of the fact that a rejection would result in the country’s isolation and could have a far-reaching negative impact on its future development. Mr. Schwarzenberg also pointed out that as an EU member the Czech Republic had a moral obligation to pull its weight in helping to save the euro. The money loaned would not be used for direct assistance but to help boost the IMFs reserves at a time of economic crisis. The matter should be consulted with parliament although the government has the final word on the loan.

While the Czech Republic has not yet made a final decision as to whether to contribute 3.5 billion euros to the IMF package intended to save the common European currency and the eurozone, the Czech Foreign Minister says the country can either join the majority of EU countries in their efforts and remain in the centre of further integration, or face marginalization in the union.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said on Sunday the Czech Republic should pull its weight in helping to save the euro zone. Speaking in a televised debate, the Czech foreign minister said the Czech Republic could not afford to remain isolated in Europe and should seriously think about making a financial commitment towards restoring financial stability in the euro zone. The country’s contribution would be 90 billion crowns and as other EU members it would have to make a commitment within eight days. The Czech foreign minister said the matter should be put to the country’s parliament without delay.

There have been mixed reactions from pundits on the Czech Republic’s cautious approach towards the intergovernmental treaty on fiscal policy agreed on at Friday’s EU summit in Brussels. While political analyst Zdenek Zboril welcomed the government’s reserved stand, saying that the imposition of financial restrictions from Brussels could create many problems, economics professor Vladimira Dvorakova said the Czech Republic could pay dearly for its “yes and no” approach. She pointed out that the Czech Republic is not Britain and the crown is not the pound, noting that in view of its position and economy the country was better off in an alliance than standing isolated.

President Klaus, a staunch Eurosceptic and conservative, on Friday welcomed the development saying the EU had made a pragmatic decision and the Czech delegation had handled the matter well. Opposition leader Bohuslav Sobotka has called for a nationwide debate on the Czech Republic’s stand in this matter. He said the Czech Republic was at a crossroads where it could either support further integration of face increasing isolation.

The Czech Republic has tentatively agreed to consider support for an intergovernmental fiscal agreement which would introduce a tougher debt and deficit regime for those EU members who commit to it. Eurozone leaders agreed to seal a separate treaty on fiscal union after several countries including Britain and the Czech Republic effectively blocked a revision of the Lisbon treaty. The new fiscal agreement should be endorsed by all 17 euro zone countries and any others who wish to make the commitment. The Czech prime minister said Prague welcomed any moves to stabilize the euro-zone, but would have to consult its parliament on making a far-reaching fiscal commitment. Sweden has also said it would have to put the matter to its parliament. Britain refused to support the deal after failing to secure concessions for itself, and Hungary has also refused to join.

More than 10 hours of negotiations in Brussels, lasting well into the early hours of Friday morning, were not enough to produce agreement by all 27 EU member states to back key changes to the EU treaty in the face of the eurozone debt crisis.

The Council of Higher Education Institutions has slammed the Education Ministry’s proposed act on tuition, saying it cannot be improved, only rejected. Among a series of 65 comments on the proposed bill, the council notes that at a cost of more than 46 million crowns in EU funding, the actual bill is only a page and a half long – the remaining 50 pages they say are merely annexes and assessments of the impacts of legal regulations. The council’s academics have issued their own 134-page set of criticisms of the bill, which they say aside from preparedness lacks also references to other laws, analyses of the effects of tuition on students and the state budget and fails to define even key terminology.