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A war of words erupted on Thursday between members of the Czech government and President Vaclav Klaus, over differences of opinion regarding Czech membership of the European Union. President's Klaus's comments leading up to Wednesday's signing ceremony in Athens - among other things that EU membership was a marriage of convenience rather than a marriage of love - have angered the government. On Thursday Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda accused President Klaus of making superficial statements about the EU, while the prime minister, Vladimir Spidla,

Ambassadors of the Czech Republic and France have opened an exhibition of photographs featuring the first Czech President Vaclav Havel in Dublin, Ireland. The photographs have all been taken between 1974 and 2002 by Mr Havel's personal photographer Alan Pajer who was present the ceremonial opening on Tuesday. The exhibition will run for a month at the Alliance Francaise and is expected to travel to other cities in the coming year.

Lady Luisa Abrahams is a truly remarkable woman. Born Luisa Raudnitzerova in 1910 she grew up in the Prague district of Bubenec, where her father ran a hospital. A golf champion in pre-war Czechoslovakia, Lady Luisa stayed in the UK, where she had gone to play a tournament, when war broke out and has been there to this day. However, she has always maintained close contacts with her home country and has done great work raising money for Czech charities over the years. On the eve of her 93rd birthday, I asked Lady Luisa Abrahams what life was really

The former Czech president Vaclav Havel is expected back from a holiday in the Caribbean on Wednesday or Thursday. Mr. Havel is returning to Prague in order to attend President Klaus' inauguration ceremony at Prague Castle on Friday.

Among the first to congratulate Mr Klaus was his predecessor, Vaclav Havel. Mr Havel, currently on holiday abroad, sent a statement via his secretary wishing Mr Klaus the best of luck in his new post. Mr Havel also said he would be pleased to return to the Czech Republic to attend the new president's inauguration, which takes place on Friday at Prague Castle.

Vaclav Klaus and Jan Sokol stood for the Czech presidency on Friday morning, uncertain about their chances of winning the support of the majority of both houses of parliament. But, as the result of a recent public opinion poll suggests, if the elections were held through a direct popular ballot, it is clear who the winner would be. Dita Asiedu reports:

Whatever the outcome of today's vote, one thing is obvious: the Czech presidency will not be the same as it was under Vaclav Havel. Both candidates - Vaclav Klaus and Jan Sokol - have emphasised that they would be different heads of state than their predecessor. In exclusive interviews for Radio Prague, the two presidential hopefuls outlined their visions for the Czech presidency.

The lower house has also refused a government-proposed bill on pensions for former presidents. The legislation was meant to take effect on May 1. Former president Vaclav Havel, whose term expired on February 2, was to be the first to take advantage of it. Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Rychetsky, who had submitted the bill, told journalists after the vote that most deputies probably did not want presidents to have any special privileges after their term expires.

On Tuesday the United States Congress adopted a resolution in which it paid tribute to the former Czech president Vaclav Havel. This was the result of an initiative led by one American congressman who was honoured to meet Mr Havel at a rock concert in the 1980s - and then wanted to honour the former Czech president in the United States Congress.

The Canadian writer, journalist and translator Paul Wilson knows the Czech Republic inside out. He was in Prague in the 1970s, when he got to know many of Czechoslovakia's dissidents and even performed with the legendary underground band, The Plastic People of the Universe, before he was expelled from the country for his supposed subversive activities. Paul Wilson has translated many of Vaclav Havel's writings and has known him since his days as a dissident. Here he remembers joining Havel - then as Czechoslovak president - in the early 1990s on