MEP Libor Rouček elected deputy-president of the EP

Czech Social Democrat MEP Libor Rouček was elected one of the 14 deputy presidents of the European Parliament on Tuesday, at the assembly’s constituent session. Mr. Rouček, who joined the European Parliament in 2004, has been active on the EP’s foreign committee. The ctk news agency says Czech representatives are unlikely to win any other influential posts in the EP. The fall of the Mirek Topolánek centre-right government in March has moreover complicated the country’s chances of getting an influential post in the European Commission. The bid for a portfolio and talks on a suitable candidate have been put on ice until after the early general elections in October.