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Meanwhile, Christian Democrat leader Jiří Čunek has said that his return to the cabinet is ‘imminent’. In an interview with Václav Moravec on Czech Television on Sunday, Mr Čunek said that he couldn’t rule out a cabinet comeback as early as Monday. Mr Čunek was formerly the minister for regional development and the deputy prime minister, but resigned in November when he came under fire for claiming social benefits while having millions of crowns deposited in various bank accounts. Mr Čunek responds that he only claimed benefits to which he was entitled. Police have subsequently dropped their investigations into the case.

Temperature records were broken all over the country on Sunday, as the Czech Republic enjoyed some of the warmest February weather ever measured. The warmest weather was recorded in the South Bohemian town of České Budějovice, where temperatures peaked at 21 degrees Celsius. This smashed the previous record for this day – 17.9 degrees centigrade, recorded on February 25, 1990. In Prague, the record set in 1990 of 16.6 degrees was equaled, while the Czech Republic’s second city, Brno, did not surpass its record, but did enjoy temperatures of up to 14.8 degrees.

Czech tennis star Radek Štěpánek is through to the final of the ATP tennis tournament in San Jose, California, after beating American Robby Ginepri in three sets. Štěpánek, who is seeded fourth in the competition, will now face the favourite for the title, Andy Roddick, in the final. Štěpánek stands the chance of winning his third career title after putting an end to wild card Ginepri’s hopes, defeating him 6-7, 6-4, 6-1. Ginepri had already caused an upset, beating the tournament’s second-seed, James Blake, in the quarter-finals.

Around five hundred and fifty people gathered in Prague at two separate demonstrations on Saturday to protest against Kosovar independence. Nearly 350 people gathered on Palackeho namesti - Prague’s equivalent of Speaker’s Corner - to protest against Kosovo’s declaration of independence. A further 200 or so protestors from the ‘The Central Bohemian Autonomous Nationalist’ group marched through the capital brandishing Czech and Serbian flags. Traffic in the capital was disrupted by the march. Tens of police were on standby in case of any violence, but according to a police spokesperson, both demonstrations passed without any incident. The Czech Republic is still to recognise Kosovo’s independence, but has indicated that it will follow suit should the majority of other EU member countries formally recognise the state.