Czech Republic still pushing for early EU entry

Czech negotiators in Brussels have said the Czech Republic would push to conclude negotiations on entry to the European Union within months despite the record floods which have just swept the country. Petr Jezek, deputy chief EU negotiator at the Czech Foreign Ministry told journalists that the Czech Republic could ill afford any delays if the country wanted to be admitted to the EU in the fist wave of expansion in 2004. "The set target date for concluding the accession talks remains valid" Jezek said. The EU has pledged to divert close to 60 million euros from two programmes normally dedicated to financing reconstruction projects in candidate countries to help the Czech Republic recover from the worst floods ever recorded in the country.