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The Czech EU presidency said on Monday the EU would consider increasing its sanctions against the Burmese regime after the junta put opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi on trial. Speaking ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said the EU would first call on the Burmese authorities to release Aung San Suu Kyi and go forward with sanctions if the appeal went unanswered. In view of the restricted impact of such sanctions the EU wants to try to persuade other states, particularly China, to also apply pressure. The matter is expected to be brought up at an EU-Chinese summit in Prague this Wednesday.

On Friday the former Czech president Václav Havel urged UN chief Ban Ki-moon to use his authority to secure the release of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. In an open letter published by the čtk news agency, Mr. Havel called on the UN chief to personally intervene in the matter in order to prevent a show trial. The 72-year-old playwright, dissident and hero of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, said many people in Burma were in need of help since the junta had imprisoned more than 2,100 political detainees.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, is facing five years in jail on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest after a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her off-limits lakeside house in the capital Yangon.

Former Czech president Václav Havel has come out in support of the Green Party lead by Martin Bursík, calling the party the authentic and true proponent of green ideals. The Czech Green Party has recently split, with rebel Green MPs now standing for the newly-founded Democratic Green Party in upcoming European elections. On Monday, former president Václav Havel came out in support of Martin Bursík’s Greens, calling the party an alternative to the two main parties in the Czech Parliament, the Social Democrats and the Civic Democrats. Mr Havel said that while the two main parties were very similar in their ‘technocracy’, the Greens were the only party concerned by matters aside from economic growth. These are some of the strongest remarks that Mr Havel has made in favour of one particular political party. The Greens are one of around 30 parties standing for election in June’s European parliamentary vote.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel has urged UN chief Ban Ki-moon to use his authority to secure the release of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. In an open letter published by the ctk news agency on Friday, Mr. Havel called on the UN chief to personally intervene in the matter in order to prevent a show trial. The 72-year-old playwright, dissident and hero of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, said many people in Myanmar were in need of help since the junta had imprisoned more than 2,100 political detainees.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, is facing five years in jail on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest after a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her off-limits lakeside house in the capital Yangon.

The minister for human rights and minorities, Michael Kocáb, says he would like to invite former president Václav Havel and the Czech Republic’s chief rabbi Karol Sidon to join a team to discuss solutions to the problem of far-right extremism in the country. On a TV discussion programme, Mr Kocáb said a group should be created to address the subject made up of leading sociologists, theologians, lawyers and political scientists. Prior to being replaced by a caretaker government on May 8, the current cabinet is due to deliver a new strategy to combat extremism. The move follows a number of far-right demonstrations and the attack in Vítkov.

Former president Vácalv Havel has distanced himself from speculation that he could back the centre-right Civic Democrats in upcoming October elections. Havel said that he was not about to wear a political t-shirt and if he were to so it would be green. Havel sparked speculation following comments to the Lidové Noviny newspaper last week which criticising the Social Democrat led no-confidence vote which toppled the centre-right coalition as a ‘stupidity.’ He added that he sympathised with the Civic Democrats and expected voters would make the Social Democrats pay for what they had done.

The Vaclav Havel Library was established two years ago, as an attempt to build an institution similar to presidential libraries in the United States, and is essentially a collection of the former president’s works in the various stages of his life – dissident, playwright, president. However its organizers want it to be more than just a collection of dusty books and papers. The library has now moved to a new location - Gallery Montmartre in Prague’s Old Town and its director Martin C. Putna says there are big plans ahead:

A portrait of Barack Obama given to the US president during his recent visit to the Czech Republic will temporarily go on display at a Prague gallery. The portrait, by Spanish artist Jose-Maria Cano, was given to Mr Obama by former Czech president Václav Havel. Mr Obama visited Prague on April 4 and 5, giving a keynote speech on nuclear disarmament just outside Prague Castle. He then met privately with Mr Havel shortly before his departure. The gift by Mr Havel will go on display at the DOX gallery until April 22, after which it will be sent on to Washington.

Before leaving the Czech Republic for Turkey on Sunday evening President Obama met with the icon of the Velvet Revolution, the former Czech president Vaclav Havel. Mr. Havel said he had been greatly impressed by Mr. Obama’s speech in Prague. However he warned Mr. Obama against the excessive hopes that were being pinned on him. Mr. Havel said this was a reflection of his own personal experience. The US president said he was aware of the problem and had already started to notice early signs of it.

EU leaders met with US President Barack Obama at an informal summit of the European Union and the United States in Prague on Sunday. The meeting, organized by the Czech EU presidency on the second day of President Obama’s visit to the Czech capital, followed up on issues discussed earlier this week at the G20 in London and the NATO summit in Strasbourg.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg will meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton privately on Saturday evening, according to the CTK news agency. Ms.Clinton is in Prague with U.S. President Barack Obama for the EU-US summit. Hillary Clinton knows Vaclav Havel from the days when her husband, then U.S. president Bill Clinton met with the former Czech head of state.