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Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has announced that the Czech ruling coalition would seek a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament. The decision was made after Mr Spidla's three-party centre-left coalition failed to give its candidate enough support during Friday's presidential elections. Rebel coalition members switched sides to join opposition MPs in electing Vaclav Klaus in the final round of balloting. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Mr Spidla said it was not clear when the vote of confidence would be held. While newly elected President Vaclav Klaus has welcomed the decision, experts say the move is too risky as the coalition only has a one-vote majority in the 200-seat lower house.

Results of a recent study made by the Centre for Public Opinion Research less than four months before the country's referendum on EU membership is scheduled to take place, suggest that 56 percent of Czechs feel they have not been given enough information on what EU membership would entail. Despite these statistics, the number of Czechs in support of the country's accession to the EU has increased by 14 percent since October to reach 69 percent.

Mr Klaus himself has denied that he was only elected thanks to the support of the Communist Party. He said on a television interview programme that he was 100 percent certain he had received votes from all the parties in the lower house of parliament. He also denied doing deals with the Communists in exchange for their support. Meanwhile, the deputy leader of the Communist Party, Miloslav Ransdorf, has said he is considering resigning from the party if reports that most Communist MPs voted for Mr Klaus are confirmed.

There has been a mostly negative to the result in the European press. Britain's Guardian newspaper said Mr Klaus's victory had cast doubt on the Czech Republic's membership of the European Union. Meanwhile the leading French dailies Le Figaro and Liberation both described him as a "leading Euro-sceptic." Spain's El Pais newspaper said Mr Klaus represented the antithesis of Mr Havel's humanistic ideals. Austria's Die Presse said Mr Klaus would be a pragmatic partner who would, however, refuse to compromise on issues such as the dispute over the post-war expulsion of the Sudeten Germans.