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This Friday saw the last in a series of EU summits held in Prague this week: representatives of the Czech EU presidency and the European Commission met with Southern Corridor countries, including Azerbaijan, Egypt, Turkey and others, to discuss energy transport from the Caspian region to Europe. Outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said the corridor could be could be ushered in by the Nabucco pipeline. He stressed that more than energy was at stake but a “two-way exchange on goods, investment, labour and knowledge”.

The 64th anniversary of the end of World War II was marked by a number of events in the Czech Republic. On Friday, President Václav Klaus laid a wreath at a monument to Czech soldiers who lost their lives in the service of other countries’ armies. The ceremony was attended by senior politicians including outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek. Mr Klaus said after the ceremony it was “a duty” to remind younger generations of what had taken place, while the head of the Czech Senate, Přemysl Sobotka, said it was necessary to remember those who had sacrificed their lives. This year, for the first time, the president did not name new generals to the Czech Army.

The Czech Republic’s national hockey team was defeated by Sweden on Thursday at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Switzerland. The final score was 3:1. The loss means that the Czechs are out, with no shot at a medal for the third straight year. During the quarterfinal game the Czechs failed to capitalise on the power play while the Swedes went ahead. Afterwards, coach Vladimír Růžička expressed disappointment, making clear the lone goal simply wasn’t enough. Czech fans had hoped the team might go further through the leadership of players like Jaromír Jágr.

The head of the eurosceptical party Libertas has welcomed President Václav Klaus’s declaration he will not sign the Lisbon treaty following Wednesday’s vote in favour by the Czech upper house, the Senate. Libertas’s head Declan Ganley said he was pleased by President Klaus’s stance. The Czech head of state said after the Senate vote that he would wait on the outcome of an expected referral of the treaty to the Constitutional Court by a group of Civic Democrat senators. Libertas’s leader said President Klaus was standing by the people of Ireland and would not ratify the treaty without their consent. The Czech President has said in the past that he would not sign the treaty until the Irish people overturned their previous referendum rejection of the package of EU reforms.