News

A court in Dublin decided on Wednesday that two suspected members of the so-called "Berdych Gang" can be extradited to the Czech Republic. Tomas Puta and Maros Sulej are alleged members of a gang - named after their leader David Berdych - accused by the Czech authorities of a number of crimes, including murder, kidnapping and robbery. The two men fled the Czech Republic separately in 2002 and 2003, but were arrested together in Ireland in August of last year. They have fifteen days to appeal the Irish court's decision.

The Czech air force has said that its Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets will resume training flights on Thursday. The aircraft had been grounded at the weekend pending an investigation by Swedish aviation experts following an accident involving one of their air force's planes last week. A Swedish air force pilot was catapulted from his plane last Thursday, when his ejector seat was activated for no apparent reason. Investigators have since concluded that the accident had been cause by a defect in the pilot's flight suit.

There is growing public opposition to the deployment of a US radar base on Czech territory. According to the latest survey conducted by the CVVM agency 68 percent of Czechs say they are opposed to the idea, which is 7 percent more than in February of this year. Seventy-seven percent of respondents said they would welcome a referendum on the issue.

The United States has intensified its efforts to convince the Czech Republic and Poland to agree to the stationing of a US missile defence system in the two countries. On a one day working visit to Prague on Monday the head of the US missile defence agency, General Henry Obering, underlined the crucial role of the Czech Republic and Poland in Washington's defence plans against a possible missile attack by Iran. And it has been announced that US President George Bush is to visit the Czech Republic in June to discuss the matter with top officials. The Czech Republic has officially opened talks on the issue but has made no commitment as yet. Talks are expected to last until the end of the year. The government's decision would then have to be approved by both houses of Parliament.

Austria has reacted with anger to the Czech prime minister's plans to end the validity of the Melk agreement on the Temelin nuclear power plant. During his visit to neighbouring Austria on Monday Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said that the conditions of the Melk agreement - relating to the safety of the Temelin nuclear power plant in south Bohemia - had been met and at its session on Wednesday the Czech government would officially end the validity of the agreement. The bilateral agreement signed in Melk in 2000 relates to safety norms at the plant and sets a framework for regular meetings between Czech and Austrian nuclear safety experts. According to the Czech prime minister all outstanding issues have now been resolved and the Melk agreement should be replaced by a standard bilateral agreement on a mutual exchange of information on nuclear safety.

Austrian anti-nuclear activists have threatened to step up border blockades and politicians have warned that the one-sided move would have "negative consequences for bilateral relations". Austrian Environment Minister Josef Proll has written a protest note to the Czech Foreign Ministry demanding an explanation.