President accepts Defence Minister's resignation

Czech President Vaclav Klaus has accepted Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik's offer to resign: the two men met for an hour at Prague Castle on Tuesday to discuss the future of the Czech military, during which Mr Klaus thanked the outgoing minister for his services. Last week Mr Tvrdik tendered his resignation because he disagreed with planned government cuts to the Defence Ministry budget. He said that implementing long planned reforms in the armed forces would be impossible under such conditions. Meanwhile on Tuesday, the head of the president's office Jiri Weigl stated the president had displayed personal regret over the departure of the minister, considering him the most distinguished personality to have headed the Defence Ministry.