Press Review

All today's papers report on the "victory" of Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader at his party's meeting at the weekend. "Spidla defeats rebels", Mlada Fronta Dnes writes. Another story that makes the headlines is a tragedy in a Moscow aquapark whose roof collapsed, burying swimmers in metal, glass and concrete. Lidove Noviny, Mlada Fronta Dnes and Hospodarske Noviny all sport the same photo of a rescue worker carrying a shocked small boy shivering with cold.

Tragedy in a Moscow aquapark, photo: CTK

Mlada Fronta Dnes comments on internal tension in the ruling Social Democratic Party which translates into the government. It would be too early to ring the bell for the fragile coalition - it can collapse next week as well as next year. Nevertheless, the paper warns that we cannot expect much of it and suggests that the election system be amended to make it possible to form a strong government that could effectively pursue its policies.

In its editorial on the same topic, Lidove Noviny writes that the much-discussed "crisis" in the Social Democratic Party was nothing more than a bubble that burst in a few days. At least notorious critics had a chance to pour their hearts out to the press.

Daniel Libeskind, photo: CTK

Today's Pravo reports on a visit to Prague by world-famous architect Daniel Libeskind, the author of the Freedom Tower to replace the destroyed World Trade Centre in New York. Libeskind told reporters that he was working on a project for Salvador Dali museum for the town and would present its model in May, on the occasion of the surrealist painter's 100th anniversary. Pravo notes that it would be the third museum devoted to Dali in the world.

And finally, the business daily Hospodarske Noviny in its lead story writes that the European commission is losing patience with the inadequate financial control and audit in the Czech Republic. According to the paper, only one in four crowns in municipal budgets is subject to efficient financial control that can find out whether the money was spent in line with the regulations. The EU has been warning the Czech Republic for years that it may stop providing money to such an environment, possibly as of May 1, 2004, which is the accession date.