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The OECD has also said that the Czech economy will continue to grow and the country is on track to join the eurozone by 2010 but it must not neglect fiscal and pension reforms. The organisation presented an economic survey of the country on Thursday which said the budget and overall deficit was kept in check last year owing to stronger than expected revenues on the back of economic growth of 6 percent in 2005 and deferred spending. But the report says real steps have not been taken to tackle the overall level of government spending.

Czech participants in the Battle of Britain and other war veterans have commemorated the 65th anniversary of the legendary battle in which the Royal Air Force prevented a German invasion of Britain. Some of the Czechoslovak pilots, fighting with RAF, remained in Britain after the war for political reasons. Some 2,500 Czechoslovak citizens took part in the Battle of Britain, including 1,450 pilots, and nearly 500 of them were killed. At present, only a few dozen Czech participants are still alive, their average age being 86. One of the most famous Czech pilots who fought in England Frantisek Perina died a month ago, aged 95.

Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidisova has been beaten in the semi-finals of the French Open by Svetlana Kuznetzova of Russia. After taking the first set Vaidisova seemed to lose her nerve towards the end of the second, eventually losing 5-7 7-6 6-2. The 17-year-old rising star had never previously reached the latter stages of a Grand Slam competition.

Czech Television reports that the leaders of the two largest political parties in the Czech Republic met behind closed doors on Tuesday evening. Mirek Topolanek, the leader of the right-of-centre Civic Democrats who won the largest number of seats in last weekend's election, and his rival, Jiri Paroubek, the current prime minister and leader of the Social Democrats, are said to have held an unofficial meeting to exchange their basic negotiating positions in the wake of a tense election. But both men deny that they met on Tuesday and say that they are scheduled to meet, together with their respective negotiating teams, on Friday morning.

The Civic Democratic leadership is currently negotiating coalition agreements with the Christian Democrats and the Green Party, which if successful, will still make for only 100 seats in the 200-seat lower house. These three parties are due to meet for formal talks on Thursday.

Meanwhile, President Klaus has invited Mr. Paroubek to Prague Castle for post-election consultations on Thursday. The president made a televised speech last Saturday night, criticizing the immediate post-election remarks of Mr. Paroubek, in which the Social Democratic leader compared the election results to the communist coup of February 1948.