News

Meanwhile, NATO reaffirmed on Monday its backing for a planned U.S. missile shield in Europe after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it would bring no extra security on the continent. NATO leaders including Sarkozy welcomed U.S. plans to deploy the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic as a "substantial contribution to the protection of allies" at a summit in Bucharest last April. But after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, Sarkozy said that deploying the U.S. anti-missile system would do "nothing to bring security and complicates things". Mr. Sarkozy said he had won Russian backing for talks on security in Europe next year and urged a freeze in missile deployments by Moscow and the United States until then. His remarks were immediately questioned by Czech politicians who said Mr. Sarkozy had no mandate for his remarks.

The former Czech president and dissident leader Václav Havel was met with a round of applause from the crowd and shouts of “long live Havel” as he made an appearance at the Narodní trida memorial to light a candle and lay flowers. Mr. Havel said he was far less disturbed by the presence of the communists in Czech politics, than he was by the signals indicating close links between the underworld and people in high office. Mr. Havel also criticized opponents of the US radar, saying that defense issues were not a matter to be debated out in the streets. He said it would be good to ask the older protesters why they had not come out in force to demonstrate against the presence of Soviet troops in the country twenty-five years ago.

Neo-Nazis clashed with police in the town of Litvínov on Monday as officers moved in to prevent a 500-strong protest march from reaching Janov, a part of town that is home to a strong Romany minority. Cobblestones, bottles and other objects flew through the air as the police fought to get the situation under control with water canon, tear gas and the sheer number of 1,000 men. Several people are reported injured and a police car was set on fire. The event was organized by the ultra-right Workers Party and the strong gathering was clearly intended as show of strength aimed against the Romany minority. In the Romany quarter some three hundred men gathered to defend their turf, many of them armed with sticks and knives. The police had received strict orders to prevent the two sides from coming into contact.

Half of Czechs believe that President Václav Klaus is damaging the image of the Czech Republic, according to a new poll. The poll released by STEM also reveals that three-quarters of those polled believe that the Czech president should not present his own personal views whilst abroad. As a ceremonial and apolitical head of state, Mr Klaus is tasked with representing the Czech government and its people whilst overseas, but much to the chagrin of critics, the Czech president has rarely shied away from expressing his own often controversial views ranging from subjects such as Europe and climate change. Recently, Mr Klaus sparked controversy by meeting with a vocal opponent of the Lisbon Treaty while on an official visit to Ireland.