News

Washington is preparing to send a high-level delegation to Prague to mitigate tension resulting from its decision not to go ahead with a much debated missile defense project in the Czech Republic and Poland, the Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported on Saturday, citing well informed diplomatic sources. The paper notes that many in the Czech Republic considered the decision an ignominious concession to Moscow and an indication that the US was abandoning Central and Eastern Europe to Russian interests. The US delegation will most likely be led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but Vice-President Joe Biden is also being considered, the paper says.

The coming days should be mostly dry and sunny with day temperatures between 13 and 17 degrees Celsius.

The Czech Republic’s European commissioner Vladimír Špidla has said that Czech President Václav Klaus has ignored his constitutional duty regarding the signing of the Lisbon treaty. In an interview for the ČTK news agency on Friday, Mr Špidla suggested that the document should already have been signed, given it has been approved by both houses of Parliament. Mr Klaus, a well-known eurosceptic, has made no secret of his opposition to the treaty; he is now waiting now for a Constitutional court ruling - as well as for the outcome of the Irish referendum - before taking any next steps. In his interview for ČTK, the EU commissioner Vladimír Špidla called the country’s delay “incomprehensible”. He also said that a group of senators who came forward with a recent constitutional complaint appeared to be purposely postponing the ratification process. The Lisbon treaty has to be approved by all 27 EU states to come into effect.

The new Canadian ambassador to Prague, Valerie Raymond, has said that although Canada remains committed to re-establishing visa-free relations with the Czech Republic, it will not be lifting its visa requirement for Czechs for the time being. The ambassador confirmed Canada’s position in an interview for the Czech news agency ČTK. She stressed that what was important for visa-free relations, was to avoid situations in the future where the country was again hit by large numbers of asylum claims. Such a wave from the Czech Republic led to the current visa reinstatement in July. The ambassador also indicated that Canada was looking into the efficiency of its own asylum system. Czech politicians wanted Canada to conclude a treaty on safe countries of origin which would all but preclude the granting of asylum to Czech citizens. But the ambassador said that Canadian legislation did not allow for such an agreement, pointing out that under its own laws Canada had a legal obligation to hear every refugee claim on its individual merits.