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An artefact entitled “Entropa” was unveiled in the seat of the European Commission in Brussels on Monday on the occasion of the Czech presidency of the European Union. The sculpture, created by Czech artist David Černý together with 26 artists from EU member states, has the form of a plastic kit of Europe in which each country is presented through clichés and stereotypes. The Czech Republic is depicted with a screen displaying controversial statements by President Václav Klaus; the Netherlands is shown flooded with only minarets sticking out of the water, Austria is covered with nuclear power plants and Sweden is depicted as an IKEA box with Grippen jet fighters. The sculpture will remain in Brussels until the end of the Czech EU presidency in June.

Last year saw fewer people killed in road accidents than in 2007 as well as a lower number of traffic accidents, with 998 people dying in car crashes, which is the second lowest number since 1990. More than 160,000 traffic accidents occurred on Czech roads last year, down by 12 percent compared to 2007.

The stage is set for a resumption of Russian natural gas supplies to Europe after shuttle diplomacy by the Czech prime minister Mirek Topolánek secured both sides’ agreement to a deal on deploying international monitors as a means of preventing foul play in the transit system. Russia put its signature to the agreement on Saturday, Ukraine on Sunday. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said supplies to Europe could begin immediately after monitoring began, but it could take up to three days to restore gas supplies to full volume across Europe. Prime Minister Topolánek said deployment of the monitoring team would take no more than a few of hours. A raging pricing and payment dispute between Moscow and Kiev resulted in a complete halt of supplies to Europe last Wednesday, sparking a serious energy crisis in states that are fully dependent on Russian natural gas.

Over thirty Czech soldiers left for Afghanistan on Sunday where they are to join the Czech military contingent tasked with protecting Camp Haridan in Uruzgan province. The Czech military contingent is to remain there until the end of March when they are to be replaced by Slovak troops. However the future of all 400 Czech troops in Afghanistan is now hanging in the balance after Parliament rejected a bill on the army’s foreign missions in 2009. Their mandate in the country was temporarily extended by the government and a new vote is expected in the lower house shortly. The government has had to cut back on plans to extend the country’s forces abroad, promising to cut back on the number of troops serving in ISAF and to end Czech participation in the US-led operation Enduring Freedom by the end of the year.