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The Commissioner for EU Enlargement, Štefan Fuele, has said in an interview for Die Welt that Ukraine, Georgia and Moldavia should become full-fledged members of the European Union – stressing that if change in eastern Europe was the goal, EU enlargement was the strongest instrument. At the same time, the Czech commissioner said, the union needed political and institutional changes to help with enlargement and deeper integration. In addition to further expansion, the commissioner - who ends his term later this year - expressed support for a several tier or multi-speed Europe.

The decision to cancel a tender process for the extension of the Temelín nuclear power station in South Bohemia does not mean that the Czech Republic has given up on nuclear power, says the minister of industry and trade, Jan Mládek. Mr. Mládek told Friday’s edition of Mladá fronta Dnes that it remained the best option for the country as regards power generation. He and the minister of finance will produce a draft plan by the end of the year under which nuclear would replace coal-fired power plants by around 2030, he told the newspaper. New blocks might not be at Temelín but at the Czech Republic’s second nuclear station at Dukovany, Mr. Mládek said.

The Senate has rejected one of President Miloš Zeman’s candidates for the post of Constitutional Court judge, Jiří Nykodým. While serving previously as a Constitutional Court judge, the lawyer played a role in the rejection of a complaint taken against a controversial church restitution bill last year. The president will now have to find a new candidate. Two others were made Constitutional Court judge in a secret vote at the Senate on Thursday: Vojtěch Šimíček and Tomáš Lichovník.

Persistent rain in the Czech Republic is continuing to cause some rivers to swell. Among them is the Berounka, which flows into the Vltava. Fears that the latter will also rise have led to quays in Prague being closed as a preventative measure. People in the Plzeň region, around Mladá Bolesav and in Jeseník have seen some water damage but latest reports say the situation in those areas is becoming calmer. Forecasters have scaled back flood warnings, with the lowest level of flood alert now in place in only four regions.