News

Residents of the Prague 1 district have voted against the erection of a statue of Sigmund Freud in the area. Prague City Hall wants to put up a statue of the famous psychoanalyst, who was born in the Moravia town of Pribor, on Kozi Placek or "Goat's Square" near the Prague's Jewish Quarter. Opponents say the project is inappropriate because Freud has little or no connection with the Czech capital. Three quarters of those who took part in the poll voted against the project. Only 5.8% of those who were entitled to participate in the referendum cast their vote. Prague 1's authorities are now expected to hold negotiations with Prague City Hall based on the result of the poll.

The unseasonably mild weather has put pressure on temperature records in various parts of the country. A temperature of 25.9 degrees Celsius was recorded in Pilsen on Saturday, which smashed the regional record for this time of year of 23.5 degrees Celsius recorded in Klatovy in 1981. Meteorologists say that other regional temperature records could also fall over the coming weekend.

A spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency has said the construction of a radar system that the US hopes to station in the Brdy military zone southwest of Prague would cost about 260 million US dollars. But the total costs of the radar system are estimated as higher at 550 million, including 118 million for communications equipment and 45 million for the guarding of the area. The agency confirmed the information that the US would transfer its radar system from the Marshall Islands if agreement is reached with the Czech Republic. Negotiations were officially launched only recently and are expected to last until the end of the year. If deployed the radar base is intended to complement a rocket installation in Poland, part of a broader US missile defence shield.

Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek has said that while he does not prefer it as an option he has not ruled out the possibility of trying to form a grand coalition government if the current government falls. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has made clear his government will stake its political future on the passing of its fiscal and social reforms later this year. But his coalition, which won a narrow confidence vote in January, is not ensured a majority in the lower house. Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said a grand coalition was a "theoretical possibility" but he added such a coalition could be formed only with the aim of leading the country to early elections. Social Democrat deputy chairman Zdenek Skromach has meanwhile indicated he would not be in favour of such a solution.