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The head of the opposition Social Democrats Jiří Paroubek has insisted that his party’s plan for a scrap premium, encouraging Czechs to get rid of their old cars and buy new ones, should be implemented by this autumn. In an interview with TV Prima on Sunday, Mr Paroubek reacted to comments made by outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek on Saturday, who said that a scrap premium should not be brought into effect this year. Mr Topolánek said that carmakers in this country were already having difficulty meeting demand, which has been stimulated primarily by scrap premiums brought in in neighbouring Germany and Slovakia, and that a Czech scrap subsidy should only be brought in when this demand drops off. But on Sunday, Mr Paroubek said that this was not part of the agreement that the Social Democrats had reached with the outgoing government coalition. The Social Democrats agreed to back a government anti-crisis stimulus package last week, on the condition that a scrap premium was included in the plan.

In the same interview with TV Prima, Jiří Paroubek said that if his Social Democrats won early elections, to be held this October, then they would consider building late architect Jan Kaplický’s controversial National Library building. The structure, nicknamed ‘the blob’, won an international competition two years ago, but construction of the building was then blocked by Prague City Hall after President Vaclav Klaus voiced his objections to the design. On Sunday, Mr Paroubek said that the Social Democrats would consider building the library near Prague’s Ruzyně Airport, though he conceded that this location was not ideal for the structure. The leader of the Social Democrats added that the construction of the library would be subject to a legal review and several alterations in design. After architect Jan Kaplický died this January, thousands signed a petition to have his National Library building built.

Five units of firefighters were called to battle a forest fire near Máchovo jezero in north Bohemia on Saturday evening. The fire covered an area spanning 4.5 hectares, and due to difficult conditions, the emergency services employed special helicopters to extinguish the blaze. A spokesperson for the regional fire brigade said that it was too early to calculate the cost of the damage caused, and said that the causes of the fire would be investigated. According to firefighters, the lack of rain in the region for several weeks meant that the forest floor was bone dry, and created the ideal conditions for the fire to spread.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has said that the collapse of the Czech government halfway through the country’s EU presidency harms all small countries in the 27-nation bloc. In an interview with the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes on Saturday, the outgoing Czech prime minister said that all post-communist countries and other small countries in Europe relied upon the Czech Republic to handle its presidency well. Mr Topolánek added that the collapse of his cabinet halfway through the presidency had given rise to comments in the European media, questioning small countries’ ability to run the EU. Mr Topolánek’s cabinet was toppled by a no-confidence vote on March 24. An interim government, which will steer the country to early elections, will take over the country formally on May 9. The Czech Republic’s presidency of the European Union runs until the end of June.