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The Czech president’s chief foreign policy advisor Hynek Kmoníček met with the Ukrainian ambassador to Prague Boris Zajchuk on Wednesday to discuss the security of Czech diplomats and Czech citizens in the country. The ambassador earlier met with top foreign ministry officials and assured them that police who had committed acts of violence against protesters would be punished. The Czech Foreign Ministry has issued a travel warning relating to certain parts of the country and has urged tourists to stay away from public protests.

The Czech upper house, the Senate, has opposed giving greater nuclear safety supervision powers to the European Commission. Senators took the same stand Wednesday as the Czech government and said that calls for reinforced rules following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan were premature. One change called for is that independent supervisors replace the safety checks made by national authorities. An evaluation of member states compliance with existing safety rules is not due until July this year. Speaking to the Senate, outgoing prime minister Jiří Rusnok said he doubted whether the Czech Republic could win sufficient among other EU states to oppose the Commission proposal.

In tennis, Czech Federation Cup captain Petr Pála has named his squad for the first round tie again Spain. The women players are Petra Kvitová, Lucie Šafářová, Klara Zakopalová, and Andrea Hlaváčková. The encounter takes place at Seville on February 8 and 9. Spain has won two out of the three last contests between the countries but the last honours went to the Czech Republic when they competed in 2009 in Brno.

The Višegrad Group states should coordinate their foreign policy and push for an end to the violence in Ukraine, incoming prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka told journalists in Prague. Mr. Sobotka said the crisis in Ukraine would send repercussions across central Europe and it was important to act without delay in pushing for a democratic solution to the conflict. The best and most democratic solution would obviously be early elections, Mr. Sobotka said, adding that he had received information that a summit of the Visegrad Group – Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic – was being organized. Mr. Sobotka also announced that his first foreign trip in office would lead to neigbouring Slovakia.