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The Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has publicly apologized to his Social Democrat opposition counterpart Jiří Paroubek for disparaging comments made by Interior Minister Ivan Langer. The comments relate to a recent failure of the government to extend the military missions of Czech forces overseas, something that resulted because the Social Democrat opposition failed to vote for the measure. Mr Langer then called the Social Democrat leader a “murderer” for allowing what many viewed as the crucial missions of Czech forces in Afghanistan and Iraq to be jeopardized. Later, Mr Paroubek made any further discussions on the toleration of the current coalition government conditional on an apology from the PM. Mr Paroubek has accepted the apology and stated that it would no doubt contribute to the political discourse in the country. Czech forces overseas are currently functioning under a provisional extension order, with a new mandate to be negotiated by the government and opposition next week.

The Czech prime minister has set up a National Economic Council to help fight the effects of the global economic crisis, it has been announced. The council is made up of a number of economic specialists, among them the former ministers Vladimír Dlouhý, Martin Jahn and Jiří Rusnok. The council members have extensive experience in government and also the private sector. The council is viewed as being a non-partisan, advisory entity with no formal powers.

The Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek had a telephone conversation with the US President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday night, according to a press release issued by the Czech government. The conversation between Mr Topolánek and Mr Obama was under the auspices of the Czech presidency of the EU, and was likely designed for Mr Obama to collect information and convey his interest in the six-month long chairing of the EU by the Czech Republic. According to media reports, Mr Obama sought to learn about Czech priorities during the EU presidency and also conveyed appreciation for Czech engagement during the Israel-Gaza conflict. President-elect Obama has repeatedly stated that there is “only one president at a time” and that he does not represent US foreign policy until he is sworn in on January 20, thus it is unlikely that any foreign policy issues such as the Israeli-Gaza conflict or Russian gas crisis were discussed in great detail.

European commissioners and senior Czech politicians were among the guests at a special gala event at Prague’s National Theatre to launch the Czech presidency of the EU on Wednesday evening. The event began with Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra taking over a symbolic “EU baton” from his French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire, in the foyer of the theatre. Among those who performed later were the veteran Czech entertainer Jiří Suchý and the Forman brothers, the twin sons of film director Miloš Forman.