News

The 13th round of British immigration controls at Prague's Ruzyne airport was discontinued on Tuesday. As of July 20th, British officers refused 78 people entry to the United Kingdom. In the previous round 82 people were denied entry to the UK. The controls, agreed upon by the Czech and British governments, are meant to prevent people from abusing the British asylum system. They were first introduced last summer after several waves of Czech Roma arrived in Great Britain in order to seek political asylum. This year, the asylum seekers are travelling by coaches rather than by air and many have been returned from the Czech-German border by German border authorities.

Former foreign minister Jan Kavan has said he is to resign from his post in the European Union Convention, the body laying the foundations for EU expansion and reform. The resignation comes two weeks after one of Mr Kavan's former aides was arrested in an alleged plot to kill a journalist, although Mr Kavan denied there was any connection with the case. He said he was giving up the post to allow more time for his positions as chairman of the U.N. General Assembly and M.P in the lower house.

Meanwhile the opposition Civic Democrats have said the governing Social Democrats are responsible for the scandal, which they say is without precedent in the history of the Czech Republic. Ex-foreign minister Jan Kavan, Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik and Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla all bear personal responsibility in the matter, Civic Democrats deputy chairman Vladimir Tlusty said on Friday. Mr Kavan gave Karel Srba a job at the Foreign Ministry, Mr Tvrdik is responsible for military intelligence, for whom Mr Srba was an agent, and Mr Spidla was responsible for the intelligence services in the last cabinet.

Czech Roma asylum seekers who have been rejected political asylum abroad should not be entitled to social benefits after they return to the Czech Republic, the Government Council for Roma Affairs decided on Thursday. The council also agreed that a special police body should be established in order to deal with the widespread problem of illegal money-lending among the Czech Roma community. The number of Romanies seeking asylum in Great Britain has grown dramatically in the last few months. According to the government's human rights commissioner, Jan Jarab, excessive debt is among the reasons why Czech Roma are leaving the country.