News

Outgoing Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek has said he will found a new centre-right conservative party if what he called “socialist egalitarianism” continued in the Christian Democratic Party. He made the statement on a Sunday debate programme, but did not elaborate on whether the new party would take part in early elections set for October. He did make clear he would decide following the Christian Democrats’ leadership race in May. He himself is not running for the post of party chairman. Mr Kalousek has been at odds with his party and the current leadership on a number of issues, the last being the forming of the new interim cabinet. The Christian Democrats, under current leader Jiří Čunek, pulled out of an earlier agreement on the new interim cabinet.

English football club Chelsea, with goalkeeper Petr Čech, have made it to the final of the FA Cup. It is the second time Čech will compete for the trophy; two years ago, he and fellow players won the prestigious tournament. Chelsea defeated Arsenal 2:1 on Saturday to earn a berth in the final; they will now face the winner of the other remaining match-up, either Everton or Manchester United.

Residents in Ústí nad Labem have taken precautions ahead of a neo-Nazi march planned for Saturday evening. Earlier in the day, the north Bohemian city was described as almost empty of local inhabitants, with stores, restaurants and bars closed, some boarded up. Some 1,000 officers will monitor the march. Throughout the day, the police checked key areas for items that could be used as potential weapons. Police are also guarding sites such as the city’s railway station. It has been estimated that some 500 right-wing extremists could show up, some of them from neighbouring Germany, while around 100 anarchists could try to clash with them. The Czech far-right group behind the march has said it is marking the 64th anniversary of the bombing of the city in 1945. But observers say the real reason is to mark the upcoming anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler.

The Finnish news agency STT has reported that personal information on attendees at the recent EU-US summit in Prague was accessible on a public computer in a local hotel. The agency uncovered the information shortly after the summit - held on April 5 - had ended. The summit saw leaders from 27 EU countries, as well as US President Barack Obama, attend. According to the agency, the information included passport and flight numbers, as well as blood groups and allergies of some 200 participants, including several prime ministers and presidents. It reportedly did not include information on the US delegation. A spokeswoman for the Czech Minister for European Affairs said the public leak was a mistake by a hotel employee. She stressed that the info was not classified and had since been deleted. Helsinki may still ask Prague – which holds the EU presidency – to conduct an official investigation.