News

The former Czech president Václav Havel on Saturday received Germany’s prestigious Quadriga award at a gala ceremony in Berlin held on the 19th anniversary of the reunification of Germany. The award was also bestowed on the former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, as well as musician Marius Mueller-Westernhagen and human rights activist Baerbel Bohley. The annual award is sponsored by Werkstatt Deutschland, a non-profit organization based in Berlin and consists of a small statue resembling the quadriga at the top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and a cash prize of 25,000 Euros.

With Ireland reporting a clear “yes” vote in Friday’s repeat referendum on the Lisbon treaty, the focus is now on the Czech and Polish presidents who have yet to ratify the document. Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said he would sign the treaty on Monday but in Prague President Václav Klaus has given no indication whether he plans to sign it or not. He pointed out that he is bound by law to await the outcome of a Constitutional Court ruling on whether the treaty is in line with Czech legislation, a process that could take between six weeks and six months.

Speaking shortly after news of the Irish vote came through, Mr. Klaus said he was not happy with the outcome and criticized the fact that the Irish had been asked to vote on the treaty twice, until they produced the expected answer. The Czech president who is a staunch opponent of the treaty and what he calls a federalist Europe is now expected to come under severe pressure to sign the treaty both from the EU and on the domestic scene.

The Office of the Government has released a statement saying that every effort would be made to conclude the ratification of the Lisbon treaty as soon as possible. "The Prime Minister is convinced that ratification will be completed in a way that the Lisbon Treaty can take effect by the end of 2009," the statement said.

Rescue teams are still searching for the bodies of four construction workers believed to be trapped under the rubble of a Prague apartment building which collapsed during reconstruction work on Friday. All four were working on the third floor of the building when the ceiling caved in, crashing through the one under it. The building was otherwise empty. So far, the only evidence of those trapped within are two construction helmets fire fighters uncovered in one area. Rescuers are operating under difficult conditions, carefully digging their way through the rubble with the help of sniffer dogs. The rescue operation had to be discontinued for several hours during the night for fear that other parts of the building were in danger of collapsing. Props were put in to make the site safer. It is not yet clear what caused the tragedy.