News

The minority cabinet of Civic Democrat Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek will ask the lower house of parliament for confidence on Tuesday, three months after the June general elections which produced a perfect split between the rightist and leftist blocs in the lower chamber. Both former PM Jiri Paroubek's Social Democrats and the Communists have pledged to reject the government in the vote. Owing to that the chances of Mirek Topolanek's cabinet receiving confidence from the chamber are slim. If it loses the vote, the cabinet will have to resign. In such a case, a new prime minister appointed by President Vaclav Klaus would put together a new cabinet which would again need to seek a majority support in the lower house.

Police statistics state that the past weekend was thus far the most tragic one on Czech roads this year. A total of 16 people died in car accidents across the country on Saturday and Sunday. The month of September saw 90 people killed in automobile accidents; thus far September and June share the record for the most tragic months of the year. A total of 672 people were killed on Czech roads during the first nine months of the year. A marked drop in the number of fatal accident was recorded in July after a new and stricter traffic law came into force, however the figures started rising again in August.

The Czech state-run carrier Czech Airlines has said it will sell its catering service and a cargo terminal at the Prague Ruzyne international airport. The move is part of recently launched cost-cutting measures, the airline said in a statement. The company said it hopes to receive offers from possible buyers this year and to choose the winning bidder in February 2007. Czech Airlines posted a net loss of 773 million crowns (34.54 million USD; 27.28 million euros) in the first half of the year. Last month the struggling state-controlled carrier asked its main shareholder, the finance ministry, for a cash injection of about 2 billion crowns but denied speculation of impending bankruptcy.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel says that he would welcome the Czech Republic gaining a new constitution within four to six years. Mr. Havel made the remarks during an interview on Sunday's TV program, Otazky Vaclava Moravce. Vaclav Havel said he wants to see a constitution that would be "brief, concise, and sensible," such that children could learn it in schools, and one that would inject greater fairness into the electoral system. The former president also expressed his disapproval for the recent post-election developments, saying that it took unnecessarily long to name Mirek Topolanek prime minister—according to Mr. Havel, Mr. Topolanek could have been named within days after the June election.

Mr. Havel also commented on the future of the European Union, saying that it must define itself not only in terms of common values, but also recognize its own geographic limits. The former president used New Zealand as an example of a country with "greater European values than some EU members," though it is beyond the EU zone. According to Mr. Havel, future EU expansion could include Turkey which has "one foot in Europe" and is an ally of Europe's, as well as the Balkan states, Ukraine, and Belarus. Mr. Havel was clear in drawing a line at these eastern states, thus excluding Russia, which he indicated belongs to another culture.

The extended TV interview with Vaclav Havel aired just days before the former president, playwright, and human rights activist celebrates his 70th birthday.