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The Czech government estimates that almost a quarter of Czechs can make themselves understood in English. According to government official Ivan Fisera, the Czech Republic scored better than for example Latvia, Portugal, Poland and Hungary. The government of Stanislav Gross has put forward a new plan called "English for Everyone" aiming to improve the nation's knowledge of the language. Sixty-seven percent of primary school children over ten years of age learn English as their main compulsory language, which is the third lowest percentage in this age group in Europe.

The Slovak government has decided not to appeal a court verdict ordering it to pay 24.8 billion Slovak crowns (some 775 million US dollars) to the Czech bank CSOB (Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka). In December last year, the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled that Slovakia still had an outstanding debt to the Czech bank after it failed to pay back a loan from 1993. The Slovak Finance Ministry has promised to pay CSOB 16 billion Slovak crowns by Friday. The remaining sum owed would be paid by the beginning of next year with one percent interest.

Europe needs more, not fewer, economic migrants despite public fears and high unemployment in West European countries, the EU Labour and Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said on Wednesday. Speaking in an interview with the Reuters news agency, the former Czech prime minister warned there would be 20 million fewer workers in Europe, including migrants, over the next twenty years, due to an ageing population and falling birth rates. Mr Spidla also expects some of the 15 old EU member states will not extend the transition period on the free movement of workers from the 10 new countries, once the first two-year transitory period expires in 2006. Mr Spidla said he hopes to see a more flexible retirement system in the EU that would encourage more Europeans to work later in life, while providing pensions for those who needed to retire.

A group of right-wing senators have put forward a bill under which political parties would not be allowed to use the word "communist" in their names. Senator Jaroslav Stetina said the group wanted to make the promotion of communist or Nazi ideology punishable by up to five years in prison. He said they did not want to wipe out the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, who are second in opinion polls, but to force them to transform themselves into a modern left-wing party.