Foreign minister urges reforms

Foreign Minister and the leader of the junior coalition Christian Democrats Cyril Svoboda said his party would push its leftist coalition partners to agree to public spending cuts to speed up the adoption of the euro currency. Svoboda said his party would urge the government to approve major fiscal reforms aimed at joining the euro between 2007 and 2009. This is a more ambitious target than has been proposed by the ruling Social Democrats who have largely spoken against radical spending cuts, especially in social welfare, and favoured the period between 2009-2011 as possible target dates for euro zone entry.