Czech Foreign Ministry may close down more embassies to cut costs

The Czech Foreign Ministry is laying off 250 employees and may be forced to close down more embassies in order to meet the government’s cost-cutting measures in 2010, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said at a meeting with Czech ambassadors in Prague on Monday. The government recently approved plans to close down the country’s embassies in Congo, Venezuela, Kenya, Yemen and Costa Rica. A decision on whether more embassies will need to be closed should be made by mid-September.