Three tasks not completed by Czech presidency, says Europe minister

The Czech minister for European affairs, Štefan Fuele, says the Czech presidency has left three tasks unfulfilled: the election of a new president of the European Commission, enlarging the EU to take in Croatia, and strengthening relations with the new US administration. He said, however, that Prague had done all it could to deal with those matters, and any shortfalls were not due to a lack of effort. Mr Fuele made the comments after talks in Prague with the chair of the Swedish Parliament Per Westerberg. The Swedes take over the presidency of the EU from the Czech Republic on July 1.