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Defence Minister Miroslav Kostelka has said he wants the Czech military to retain its current balance with regards to army units, while seeing a strengthening of specialisation fields. Speaking in the Senate on Wednesday on army reforms and defence policy, the defence minister stressed that smaller, well-equipped and more flexible and mobile units were desired over less wieldy forces. The minister also spoke about the role of NATO allies in case of emergency, stressing that each NATO country still had to be able to rely on its own abilities. Speaking of the necessary military reforms Mr Kostelka said it was essential to find necessary funds for modernisation and training by lowering expenditures for wages for soldiers and civilian employees, as well as reducing the number of garrisons in the Czech Republic.

Czech businessman Karel Komarek, majority owner of Fischer Travel, the firm originally founded by entrepreneur Vaclav Fischer, has gained firm control of the company for now. At a meeting of company shareholders Wednesday Mr Komarek pushed through a raise in Fischer Travel's share capital from 1 million to 11 million crowns. Vaclav Fischer, who did not take part in the share raise, loses influence over company operation for the time being. In the future minority shareholders Vaclav Fischer and Karel Komarek's capital group K & K will be able to raise the company's share level to increase their stakes to the level prior to Wednesday's general meeting, but Vaclav Fischer will be left without influence unless he raises far higher sums than he would have needed on Wednesday. New shareholder the K & K group has plans to still raise the company's share capital to 500 million crowns in 2004, while securing financing worth 500 million for the company's development.

In an interview for Czech Radio, President Vaclav Klaus criticized the Czech government for failing to adequately inform Czech citizens about the impact of EU accession on their everyday lives. The President who enjoys strong public support a year after taking office, said it was often the media not the governing coalition which informed Czechs about fundamental changes that EU membership would bring. Mr. Klaus also criticized the government on a number of other counts and said that only new elections could bring about a radical change since the current distribution of forces in the ruling coalition did not offer any overly-optimistic perspectives. Commenting on the choice of Pavel Telicka for the country's first European Commissioner, the President said he was "a typical civil servant, proficient in the EU environment" but that disturbingly, his views were unknown. Although he is not unknown, as a person he is a blank card and that is not good, Mr. Klaus said.

The world famous singer and songwriter Sir Paul McCartney, will be giving a concert in Prague within the framework of his O4 Summer Tour, during which he will be performing in 13 cities. The one time Beatles idol has not performed live in the Czech capital before. His Prague concert has been scheduled for June 6th. His summer tour also includes Lisbon, Madrid, Zurich, Leipzig, several concerts in Scandinavia and one in Russia's St. Petersburg.