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Meanwhile, a row has broken out between President Klaus and Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda in the wake of the signing of the EU accession treaty in Athens on Wednesday. President Klaus says he feels insulted by remarks that the Foreign Minister made when speaking to journalists in the wake of the ceremony. The Foreign Minister allegedly said that President Klaus' knowledge of the workings of the European Union was "superficial and inadequate". The President's spokesman Tomas Klavana said the remarks were "uncalled for, incorrect and misleading". The President has reportedly demanded an explanation in person but according to the Foreign Minister's spokesman Mr. Svoboda has no intention of going to Prague Castle "to be mentored by the head of state".

Members of the 7th Czech military field hospital said good-bye to their colleagues at a ceremony in Hradec Kralove on Thursday before leaving for their mission in Basra, southern Iraq. The first 40 members of the unit left on Thursday afternoon for Kuwait from where they will travel to Iraq. Further personnel will leave on Friday. The field hospital has two operating theatres, a quarantine section, a dentist's office with an X-ray machine and a pharmacy. The unit has about 270 members. The United States ambassador to Prague Craig Stapleton praised the Czech government for deciding to send the unit to Iraq. He said that although Iraq has been liberated, there is still work to be done.

On Tuesday, parliament approved Prime Minister Vladmir Spidla's plan to dispatch the medical unit to provide humanitarian support. The United States is helping to finance the operation. Mr Spidla has been emphasising the humanitarian focus of the hospital and the 400-member Czech army unit stationed in Kuwait that can detect against nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Last year the Czech Republic stationed an army hospital in Afghanistan following a US-led war there. Before its mission ended in January the 6th field hospital treated nearly 14,000 Afghans.

Prime Minister Spidla spoke of the historic nature of the occasion. The treaty had closed a chapter of his country's past, he said, a chapter which was too often out of Czech hands, referring to the Nazi and Soviet occupations. President Klaus struck a more pragmatic tone, saying the treaty was not the closing of a chapter, but the beginning of a new era in which Czechs would have to work hard at home and defend their position inside the EU. In an interview published on Wednesday with the German weekly Die Zeit, President Klaus said EU accession was a marriage based on reason rather than love.

The Czech Defence Ministry is considering buying used supersonic fighter planes to limit the costs of replacing its Soviet-era MiG jets next year, with five offers now on the table. The government was forced to drop plans to buy 24 new Anglo-Swedish Gripen jets after last year's catastrophic floods. Deputy Defence Minister Jan Vana told Reuters there were currently five offers to sell the country supersonic jets, but that a British offer was in what he called "a more advanced stage". NATO ally Britain has offered the Czech Republic 14 older F-3 Tornado jets, which should be replaced in the British armed forces in the next few years.