Klaus "disturbed" at attempts to reopen questions of the past

President Vaclav Klaus has released a statement saying he is disturbed by attempts both at home and abroad to reopen what he calls "questions of the past", and will hold special talks with the prime minister and the leaders of the two houses of parliament. Mr Klaus's spokesman said the meeting would be called to examine problems in Czech-German relations and the return of confiscated property, but refused to confirm whether the four would discuss the issue of compensation to Sudeten Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after the war. Mr Klaus made the comments after Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber called for compensation for German expellees. Around 2.5 million ethnic Germans - known as Sudeten Germans - were expelled from Czechoslovakia after 1945 in decrees signed by President Eduard Benes.