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The leader of the Social Democrats, Jiří Paroubek, has warned party members to focus more on the pre-election campaign than on helping the incoming interim government. A new technocratic cabinet led by incoming Prime Minister Jan Fischer will take office on May 9 with the aim of completing the Czech EU presidency as well as leading the country to early elections. Speaking to the party executive committee, Mr Paroubek reminded members that the interim government was not the Social Democrats’ own. He also said he anticipated a tough campaign from political rivals the Civic Democrats, saying a repeat of what he called the “criminal” Kubice report “was possible”. The police document, warning of growing links between the Social Democratic Party (then head of the government) and organised crime in 2006, was leaked just days before parliamentary elections, won by the Civic Democrats.

The Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has invited Belarus to take part in the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit, to take place in Prague on May 7. The foreign minister extended the invitation to controversial Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on the behalf of the EU presidency on Friday. In Minsk, Mr Schwarzenberg stressed it was up to the president to decide who would represent his country. Until now, Belarus’ involvement had been in doubt over its poor record on human rights; the regime in the past had been dubbed the last dictatorship in Europe. The aim of the Prague summit is to develop and improve ties between the EU and six states from the former Soviet bloc, not just Belarus but also Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

The upper house of the Czech Parliament is due to vote on the EU’s Lisbon treaty early next month, prior to the naming of a new interim cabinet. A spokesman revealed the news on Thursday, saying that the vote will take place during a session on May 6-7. There is speculation that the decision could be close, given the treaty is opposed by a number of Civic Democrats. The Lisbon treaty is aimed at reforming the functioning of the 27-member European Union, but has stalled in a number of countries, including Ireland and Poland. If it is ratified in the Czech Senate, the treaty will still need to be signed by President Václav Klaus, a well-known eurosceptic. The treaty must be ratified in all 27 EU countries to come into effect.

The Czech daily Hospodářské noviny has reported that outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has not ruled out a centre-right “alliance” between the Civic Democrats and others – possibly smaller parties - ahead of the early elections. Speaking to the daily, the prime minister hinted he wanted to bring together various organisations, including the Confederation of Political Prisoners – as a pre-election move. Last year, his party suffered defeat at the hands of the opposition Social Democrats in regional and Senate elections. Analysts are predicting that pre-election campaigns in the coming weeks by the two main parties will be particularly hard-hitting, not only ahead of the early elections in the Czech Republic but also ahead of elections to the European Parliament.