• Temelin's second reactor shut down due to leakage
    03/06/2003

    The second reactor at the nuclear power plant in Temelin was shut down on Wednesday night due to a leakage in the non-nuclear part, a spokesman for the power plant said adding that it will take about a day to repair it. The reactor's output first reached 100 percent of capacity on Monday morning. The power start-up of the second reactor began in June 2002 and should be completed in a month.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Cyril Svoboda leaves for US official visit
    03/05/2003

    Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda left for the United States on Wednesday for a three-day official visit. Mr Svoboda is expected to meet his US counterpart Colin Powell and other senior US politicians. Besides holding talks on bilateral and international relations, Mr Svoboda hopes to visit an ice-hockey game with Czech NHL star Jaromir Jagr and officially open a park with a statue of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. Next week, Mr Svoboda is expected to visit Vietnam, the Philippines, and New Zealand.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Social Democrats former Prime Minister for post-election analysis
    03/05/2003

    Social Democrat MPs have been reacting to former Prime Minister Milos Zeman's recent comments in the media that have been highly critical of the current party leadership. Giving interviews from his country cottage, Mr Zeman, who retired from politics last year, has lashed out at Social Democrat leader Vladimir Spidla and Deputy-Chairman Stanislav Gross, blaming them for disunity within the party. This, he says, is why deputies voted tfor he opposition's candidate Vaclav Klaus instead of the ruling coalition's Jan Sokol in Friday's presidential elections. Social Democrat MPs have been calling on Mr Zeman to either share his opinion with the parties involved directly or stay out of party politics.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Foreign ministry advises Czech nationals to leave Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan
    03/04/2003

    The Czech foreign ministry has advised all Czech nationals who may still be on the territory of Iraq, Kuwait or Jordan to leave without delay. In view of security risks from impending war it has advised Czechs not to plan trips to the region until further notice. The ministry has likewise published a list of ten other countries which are considered high risk. Embassy staff, including non essential personnel have been evacuated from the region.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Vaclav Havel to attend President Klaus' inauguration
    03/04/2003

    The former Czech president Vaclav Havel is expected back from a holiday in the Caribbean on Wednesday or Thursday. Mr. Havel is returning to Prague in order to attend President Klaus' inauguration ceremony at Prague Castle on Friday.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech government seeks vote of confidence
    03/03/2003

    Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has announced that the Czech ruling coalition would seek a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament. The decision was made after Mr Spidla's three-party centre-left coalition failed to give its candidate enough support during Friday's presidential elections. Rebel coalition members switched sides to join opposition MPs in electing Vaclav Klaus in the final round of balloting. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Mr Spidla said it was not clear when the vote of confidence would be held. While newly elected President Vaclav Klaus has welcomed the decision, experts say the move is too risky as the coalition only has a one-vote majority in the 200-seat lower house.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Vaclav Klaus begins first week in office as president-elect
    03/03/2003

    Czech President-elect Vaclav Klaus began his first week in office on Monday with the building of a presidential staff, which should be in place before his formal inauguration ceremony on Friday. Mr Klaus has also expressed hope to strengthen the presidential powers by overhauling the Central Bank's governing board, appointing new court judges and getting involved in the preparations for the country's referendum on EU enlargement in June.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Poll: Czechs have insufficient information on EU membership
    03/03/2003

    Results of a recent study made by the Centre for Public Opinion Research less than four months before the country's referendum on EU membership is scheduled to take place, suggest that 56 percent of Czechs feel they have not been given enough information on what EU membership would entail. Despite these statistics, the number of Czechs in support of the country's accession to the EU has increased by 14 percent since October to reach 69 percent.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Vaclav Klaus elected president of Czech Republic
    03/02/2003

    Politicians and the media have been responding to the election of the conservative former prime minister Vaclav Klaus as the new president of the Czech Republic. Mr Klaus succeeds his long-time rival Vaclav Havel, who led the country for 13 years after the fall of Communism. Mr Klaus - until recently leader of the opposition Civic Democrats - won by a majority of just two votes in Friday's election, a joint session of the two houses of parliament. He won largely thanks to the support of the opposition Communist Party and a group of rebel MPs from the ruling coalition, who refused to vote for the coalition's official candidate Jan Sokol.
    Author: Rob Cameron

  • Klaus denies owing debt to Communist Party
    03/02/2003

    Mr Klaus himself has denied that he was only elected thanks to the support of the Communist Party. He said on a television interview programme that he was 100 percent certain he had received votes from all the parties in the lower house of parliament. He also denied doing deals with the Communists in exchange for their support. Meanwhile, the deputy leader of the Communist Party, Miloslav Ransdorf, has said he is considering resigning from the party if reports that most Communist MPs voted for Mr Klaus are confirmed.
    Author: Rob Cameron

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