News

The first ever Romany priest in the Czech Orthodox church was ordained on Sunday. Romanies from around the Czech Republic attended the ordination of David Dudas at a packed St Anne's church in Pilsen. Mr Dudas is to begin serving the local Romany community in February in a Gothic church which they have spent two years renovating.

The governing Social Democrats have chosen former party leader Milos Zeman as their candidate for next Friday's second attempt to find a successor to President Vaclav Havel. A first vote on Wednesday proved inconclusive. The two smaller parties in the governing coalition, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union, have said however they will not support Mr Zeman for president. Neither party has yet announced a candidate of their own, but the Christian Democrats have said Petr Pithart, their unsuccessful candidate in Wednesday's vote, will not be standing again.

Apart from Mr Zeman, the only other candidate so far is the opposition Civic Democrats' Vaclav Klaus, who did best in Wednesday's vote. The Communist Party are not expected to field a candidate, and are planning to hold talks about possible support with the parties who are putting a candidate forward.

President Vaclav Havel met senior German politicians, including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President Johannes Rau, on a visit to Berlin on Friday. Mr Havel also presented Czech state decorations to five people who had worked to improve Czech-German relations, including two Sudeten Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II. President Havel steps down on February 2 after 13 years in office.

A ceremony to mark the death of Jan Palach was held in his home town of Vsetaty, central Bohemia on Saturday. Jan Palach died on January 19, 1969, three days after setting himself on fire on Prague's Wencelsas Square in protest against the 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-led troops.