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Czech Defence Minister Vlasta Parkánová and her Slovak counterpart Jaroslav Baška signed an agreement on Friday towards founding a joint military unit - one of the biggest joint defence projects since Czechoslovakia's Velvet Divorce in 1993. The unit will start operating in 2009 and will be made up of 1,500 soldiers, the ministers told journalists after a Visegrad Four meeting on Friday with Ukraine. Of that, 300 soldiers and 100-member strong support team will be Slovak nationals. EU members pledged back in 2004 to form 13 battlegroups to be on alert for defence missions, with soldiers being ready for deployment to emergency areas ten days after a decision is taken. The Czech Republic is to provide a mechanised battalion, artillery systems and combat helicopters.

Police have charged 12 individuals for alleged activities in a prostitution ring targeting young women from former Soviet bloc countries. The 12, four men and 8 women (11 of whom are from former Soviet bloc) ran a dozen prostitution sites. Police are now investigating whether girls working for the ring did so of their own volition or were forced. The gang is suspected of having made several million crowns in profits over a number of years: all of the foreign nationals in the gang were in the country legally.

Hockey forward Tomáš Plekanec earned an assist in the Montreal Canadiens’ dramatic win over the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup playoffs on Thursday. The Canadiens twice rallied from behind, tying the game with only seconds remaining. Montreal then scored in the first minute of overtime to win 3-2.

In other action, Milan Hejduk scored for the Colorado Avalanche against Detroit – but his goal, while enough to put his team within distance, but not enough for a win. The Red Wings – with Chris Osgood in net, not Dominik Hašek – edged Colorado by a score of 4-3.

The Czech Senate on Thursday asked the Constitutional Court to examine whether the Lisbon Treaty is in harmony with the Czech constitutional order. The proposal was initiated by the ruling Civic Democratic Party, which has a majority in the Senate, and approved by 48 of 70 senators present. Senators for the opposition Social Democratic party tried in vain to have the treaty ratified without further delay. Critics from the opposition claim that the Civic Democrats are intentionally trying to delay the treaty’s ratification in view of the country’s upcoming EU presidency. The Lisbon Treaty would fundamentally alter the way the EU is run, reducing the influence of the presiding country. The Czech Republic is to take up the rotating EU presidency in 2009.