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The new Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer will visit EU headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday in a bid to shore up confidence in his country's EU presidency, following a change-of-guard in Prague. The interim prime minister will meet with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, employment commissioner Vladimir Špidla and Belgian's Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy. Mr. Fischer has repeatedly stressed that his interim government would do its utmost to ensure a smooth transition and fulfill the country’s role as EU leader.

The Czech president and the Senate are engaged in a war of words over the ratification of the Lisbon treaty in the Czech upper chamber last week. Shortly after the vote, President Klaus said the treaty’s ratification was a failure by the country’s political elite to defend Czech interests. On Monday Senate chairman Přemysl Sobotka hit back, reminding the Czech president that the upper chamber was a sovereign legislative body to which Mr. Klaus owed his reelection as head of state. Earlier, Senate Deputy Chairwoman Alena Gajdušková voiced the opinion that impeachment proceedings could be started against the president if he failed to respect Parliament’s decision and sign the Lisbon treaty. Mr. Klaus has made it clear he would not be signing the Lisbon treaty any time soon, and pronounced it to be “dead” on the grounds of the Irish referendum.

Prime Minister Jan Fischer has promised to review a controversial article of the penal code that critics say restricts press freedom. The so-called “muzzling law”, which took effect on April 1 of this year, prohibits the publication of police wiretappings and bans media from naming the victims of crimes. Sentences for breaking the legislation run to five years behind bars and fines of up to five million crowns (225,000 dollars). Politicians claim the amendment was approved to protect crime victims, but critics say its primary function is to protect politicians from unwelcome publicity. In response to a joint appeal from the Czech media, Prime Minister Fischer said he viewed the legislation as problematic and would have it reviewed by the cabinet.

David Černý’s controversial artwork Entropa, which was unveiled in Brussels at the start of the Czech EU presidency, is being dismantled at the artist’s request. Mr. Černý has ordered the work to be taken down in protest against the fall of the centre-right government of prime minister Mirek Topolánek, midway through the Czech Republic’s EU presidency. Originally the piece was expected to remain in Brussels until the end of June. Prime Minister Jan Fischer said he would have preferred for the artwork to remain in place until the end of the Czech presidency, but he fully respected the artist’s ownership rights.