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Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, was named on Monday as the winner of the 200,000-dollar Seoul Peace Prize for his efforts to promote democracy. He is the seventh winner of the prize which was established in 1990. Previous recipients include the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and international relief organisations such as Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam. The peace foundation praised Mr Havel as "living testimony to the democratisation" of his country. Vaclav Havel was involved in the human rights movement in the face of the Soviet invasion in 1968 and became one of the prominent figures among Czech intellectuals calling for democracy as an alternative to communism. He served as president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 and between 1993 and 2003 he was president of the Czech Republic.

In all likeliness, former Czech president Vaclav Havel will not be the only Czech candidate in the running for the Andrej Sacharov Award for the spirit of liberty, nominated by members of the European Parliament. Czech left-of-centre euro-parliamentarians are also considering nominating renowned Czech author Arnost Lustig. Also being considered are students in Belarus actively opposed to the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko.

Just over two weeks ago the Czech Republic lost one of its all-time great sports heroes, former hockey player and later coach, Ivan Hlinka, who was killed in a car accident just outside the west Bohemian town of Karlovy Vary. In this Special we look back at Ivan Hlinka - the player, the hockey legend - as recalled by players and friends, a man mourned by many and now sorely missed.

The 39th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is currently underway, with dozens of well-known actors and directors, hundreds of films and thousands of enthusiastic film fans making the festival one of the most colourful events in the Czech Republic.

The former Czech President, Vaclav Havel, has said that the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea should jointly confront the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il to compel him to respect basic human rights. Calling Kim Jong Il the "world's worst totalitarian dictator" for being "responsible for the loss of millions of lives," Mr Havel cited accounts of repression by North Korean refugees that had been verified by modern satellite images. In an opinion piece in The Washington Post newspaper, Mr Havel urged the four democratic powers to take a common position and make it clear to Kim Jong Il that "respect for basic human rights is an integral part of any future discussions with Pyongyang". Last week, the Czech Republic reopened its embassy to North Korea. The Czechoslovak embassy to Pyongyang was closed in the early 1990s.

Vaclav Havel has had to cancel his appearance at the opening night of a production of his play Pokuseni, or Temptation, at Prague's Estates Theatre; the former president is suffering from a lung inflammation, the latest bout of a bronchial illness which has been afflicting him for several years. Seven years ago Mr Havel, formerly a heavy smoker, had part of his right lung removed because of cancer.

In this week's Arts - former dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel makes a comeback to Prague's most prestigious stage with his 1985 play "Temptation" but before that we look at some of the cultural events this week:

Ten days after the Czech Republic became a full member of the European Union, key Czech political figures took a day trip to Brussels to celebrate. Pavla Horakova went with them.

A lingering respiratory problem has forced the former Czech president Vaclav Havel to cancel a planned visit to Canada and postpone a planned trip to the United States. Mr. Havel was scheduled to attend a panel discussion in Vancouver on April 20th that will include Nobel Peace Prize winners South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi and the Dalai Lama. After that he planned to spend several months in the United States. Mr. Havel's spokesperson said it was not clear when the president would be fit to travel. He is now said to be working at home in the care of physicians.

Two years ago at the NATO Summit in Prague the process was set in motion - it is now just about ready to come full circle: on April 2nd NATO will officially expand by seven new countries as Jan Velinger reports.