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A train carrying equipment for the Czech chemical detection unit which is to help protect the Olympic Games in Athens has left for Greece. The 35 cars carrying special containers and equipment for radiation and chemical detection and decontamination are guarded by ten soldiers, while the group of 90 specialists will follow by plane. The team of specialists from the Liberec-based NATO rapid response unit will operate in Athens from August 1st till September 30th. The core of the group is made up of Czech specialists but there will also be chemical experts from Italy, Hungary, Spain and Poland.

Czech Senate Chairman Petr Pithart, who has been in Austria since Friday to attend the Salzburg Festival, met with Austrian President Heinz Fischer on Saturday, ahead of Mr Fischer's official trip to Prague next month. While the two politicians chose not to discuss sensitive topics such as the Czech Republic's nuclear energy plan or the controversial Benes decrees, both men agreed it was necessary to uphold close cooperation between the Central European countries. Mr Pithart noted that the Czech Republic was engaged in much more dialogue with its neighbour Germany than with Austria and suggested the two countries' experts, historians, and politicians should come together more often to discuss their past, present and future.

The Czech Republic's European Commissioner Pavel Telicka has arrived in Prague, where he hopes to meet with acting leader of the Social Democrats and prime minister-designate Stanislav Gross. On Friday, the ruling coalition parties agreed to replace Mr Telicka by the outgoing Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla. This means that Mr Telicka could loose his post in Brussels as early as in one month. Mr Telicka first heard about his replacement from a friend just before the news was made official at a press conference on Friday.

The Czech's EU Commissioner, Pavel Telicka, first learned that he may be replaced in Brussels by outgoing Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla from a friend. Mr Telicka told the CTK news agency that he only received official news of that possibility on Friday, after a public news conference. The post of EU commissioner was first offered to Mr Spidla by the acting head of the Social Democrats and Prime Minister-designate, Stanislav Gross, who is now putting together a new cabinet. The Christian Democrat party, which will be part of the new government coalition, has pushed for Mr Telicka's replacement due to his past membership in the Communist party.