Press Review

All papers lead with Monday's announcement by Spain's prime minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero that all 1,300 Spanish troops would be pulled out of Iraq by June 30. They speculate as to whether it is a wise decision, wonder what country's soldiers would fill the gap, and continue to analyse international security after Thursday's bomb blasts in Madrid. Domestically, it is a mix of stories that make the front pages ranging from criticism of the Czech Republic's lax approach to last-minute preparations for EU membership to the row between football fans that left one man in hospital.

Spanish troops in Iraq, photo: CTK

Almost all Czech politicians believe that Czech troops should not be pulled out of any foreign missions, writes Mlada Fronta Dnes. It quotes Interior Minister Stanislav Gross as saying that Spain's decision to pull its soldiers out of Iraq would only support the idea that goals can be reached through terrorism. There are currently only a few dozen Czech soldiers in Iraq, while a little over a hundred are to be deployed to Afghanistan soon. Only the Communists have supported Spain's decision, writes the paper.

Pravo reports that Brussels has sent a letter of warning to Prague, saying that the Czech Republic is still lagging behind with its preparations for EU membership. The abrupt and strict tone with which the letter was written shows that Brussels is running out of patience, the paper writes. EU Director General for Enlargement Fabrizio Barbaso, warns the continuing deficit could complicate conditions for Czech firms as well as individuals. An unnamed source in Brussels tells the paper that there has been little improvement, despite several warnings from Brussels. The Czech Republic is mostly criticised for not being up to speed in the agriculture sector, food hygiene, the law on public tenders, and environment protection legislation.

Most western EU states are in dire need of doctors and therefore one of the most welcome skills of the Czech, Polish, and Hungarian workforce will be those of doctors, writes Lidove Noviny. Great Britain alone needs some five thousand doctors and some reports say that neighbouring Germany is short of a shocking 27,000. The head of the Czech Medical Chamber, David Rath, tells the paper that seven hundred Czech doctors are already working in Germany. As well as the Czech Republic's neighbour, countries such as Britain and Denmark are expected to attract Czech doctors when the country joins the European Union.

An unnamed source from the Polish Medical Chamber says that a third of Polish doctors plan to work in western Europe since they could get ten times their average monthly salary of 220 Euros abroad. However, Mr Rath says that Czechs do not expect to lose such an alarming number because enough pressure has been exerted to raise a doctor's average monthly salary to some 1,100 Euros - a wage that many settled down doctors with families are satisfied with.

Both Lidove Noviny and Pravo have published a public apology from the government to former privatisation minister and co-author of the Czech privatisation policy Tomas Jezek. It reads: "We apologise to Mr Tomas Jezek for the false and unfounded statements made by member of government and minister Jaroslav Basta, claiming that Mr Jezek had committed a crime by violating his duty during the handling of another's property, which led to Mr Jezek being charged." The apology, signed by the Government of the Czech Republic, refers to accusations made against Mr Jezek that the privatisation process of the chocolate plant Cokoladovny Praha he was responsible for when he held the post of privatisation minister in the early 1990s was not transparent. He was cleared of the charges in December last year.