Albania not ready for visa-free regime with EU

A report by the European Commission, published on 20 May, suggested that Albania had not yet done enough to meet the requirements for abolishing the visa regime for entry into the EU. Overall results have been mixed, it stressed. “There is progress recorded in the fields of justice, freedom and security,” the document said, “but Albania has not met European standards in border control, issuing of documents, migration, fighting terrorism, organised crime and corruption.” The Albanian government had been hoping to be included on the so-called White Schengen list by January 2010.

European Commission Updated Assessment May 2009 (PDF)

IMF warns government to reduce budget

IMF mission chief in Albania Gerwin Bell on 7 April urged the government to reduce budget expenditures this year because revenues could not be expected to rise. Bell made the recommendation at a meeting with Finance Minister Ridvan Bode and Central Bank Governor Ardian Fullani. The IMF has predicted slight economic growth in 2009, but Bell said that, given the global economic crisis and its effects on banks, the government should seriously consider the IMF suggestions.

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Yerevan mayoral campaign at risk of widespread fraud

Official campaigning for Mayor of Yerevan, the capital city, begins on 2 May, but in mid April interest in the 31 May election had taken off early. This is because opposition leader and former President, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, has announced his intention to stand for the post.

Sociologists believe the level of intention to vote is now as high as in past presidential elections, where normally local elections attract little interest. One organisation has predicted that 50% of Yerevan voters will participate, and another nearer to 70%.

Since the 2008 presidential campaign there has been a high level of political unrest, with complaints against the authorities and some violence.

With the high-level of interest it is believed the level of fraud increases. Reports have emerged that passports are being held along with signatures pledging votes for the ruling RPA party. The use of so-called “administrative force” has been a key aspect of fraud used in previous elections at all levels. Voters who hold jobs at state-supported institutions are fearful of losing their jobs if they do not sign pledges to vote for the Republican candidates. It appeared that a process of signature-collecting had already started at kindergartens, schools, and healthcare institutions.

One 60 year-old mother came forward to say that her daughter, a teacher who works at one of Yerevan’s central schools had reported that the school headmaster had made the teachers bring the passports of their relatives to the school – a scheme that in the past had been used to intimidate employees and falsify elections.

Another official working in a local district administration told how her colleagues got the lists and they were told to write the names of their relatives, their dates of birth, addresses and registration data, and if there were dead people, the dates of their death. When she protested she was told that it was a mandatory order from the district office, that the data should be collected. “It is clear what they need the data for. They want to illegally include the dead, or their souls, in the lists.”

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EU takes initiative on better relations

President Aleksandr Lukashenko told a top EU official on 22 June that he sincerely wanted to build good relations with the European Union.

EU External Relations chief Benita Ferrero-Waldner came to Minsk to offer co-operation with Belarus on "a wide range of areas of mutual interest". Lukashenko welcomed her visit and, with an eye on Russia, said he wanted to improve links "no matter whom that displeases".

Earlier this month Russia imposed a ban on Belarussian dairy products, ostensibly on health grounds. Belarus retaliated by installing a highly symbolic customs post on the two countries' joint border. Both measures lasted only a short time. But Gazprom, the Russian gas monoploy, has demanded that Belarus pay a gas bill for $230 million, covering the first four months of this year, within a week, virtually an impossibility.

Belarus recently freed all political prisoners and made other concessions. "Belarus has taken steps in the right direction and we have recognised that," Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. The EU would be prepared to reward further reforms.

The EU launched its "Eastern Partnership" in May. It aims to improve ties with six former Soviet republics, including Belarus.

Ukraine starts energy supplies to Belarus

Ukraine is to begin supplying energy resources to Belarus from 1 June, Ukrainian Minister of Fuel and Energy Yuriy Prodan said on 27 May.

"The question of prices is a trade secret, but in principle we will be exporting [energy resources] at the price currently fixed for Ukraine," Prodan explained.

The decision appeared to be part of a wider strategy for energy supplies channelled through Ukraine. Yuriy Prodan said that his Ministry of Fuel and Energy still has three months to prepare for auctions. "I think we will have time to make some changes to the laws, because if we want to conquer markets, we need to start gradual implementation."

Lukashenko not taking up invitation to EU summit

It appeared in early May that President Aleksandr Lukashenko would not be attending the EU summit in Prague on 7 May, despite an invitation from the Czech Republic as current holders of the EU presidency. The Czechs have planned to host an "Eastern Partnership" summit with six former Soviet states, aiming to develop closer energy and trade links with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Since the authorities in Minsk released political prisoners last year the EU has felt able to improve diplomatic contacts with Belarus. The EU has also suspended a travel ban it had imposed on President Lukashenko and other top officials of his regime.

A Czech government spokesman commented that it was "up to the Belarus government to decide who would represent it" in Prague and that the participating countries were "supposed to send their number one or two".

President Lukashenko had received a personal invitation from Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg when on a visit to Minsk. Illustrating the slight easing of hostilities with the Belarussian regime, on 27 April Lukashenko made his first official visit to western Europe since 1995, meeting Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican.

Link:
The Belarussian exile organisation in Prague publishes the Belarusian Review in English. Click for an on-line version.

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EU concerned about political irresponsibility

EU Security and Foreign Policy commissioner Javier Solana said on 20 May that there was a lack of responsibility among politicians in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a matter of concern to the EU.

One example of this lack of responsibility was that while the rest of Europe was worrying about the economic crisis, Bosnia-Herzegovina had completely different issues on its mind. “More needs to be done in order to tone down national rhetoric and step up work in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Solana said on Bosnian national TV. He wanted the country “to become more active in its integration into the European family.”

The situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina could change in two ways: calling new elections or reaching an agreement between leaders to change their policies. He suggested a better structure for the institutions of government, but to achieve this political will was needed to make decisions and pass laws.

“Bosnia wants to be a member of the EU and that is why Bosnia must speak with a single united voice, not three different ones,” Solana said. This was why he opposed the suggestion that a referendum should be held on the Republic of Srpska’s secession.

Bosnian Serb PM calls for clearer focus on EU conditions

Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, said on 19 May that Bosnia-Herzegovina needed to find a way of meeting the conditions for EU integration.

Following a speech made by US Vice-President Joe Biden while on a visit to Sarajevo on 19 May, Dodik claimed that the Dayton Accords could guarantee Bosnia-Herzegovina’s stability for ever, provided that different people did not interpret it as they saw fit. “Mr Biden clearly stated that the issue of internal organisation is something that rests with us and that the two entities are not in question,” he said.

“Therefore, the point is for us here to calm the situation on the basis of the support that the EU and US are clearly giving Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is not for everyone to interpret what Biden said or what the US advises, but to try to respond to the question of how to ensure that the citizens get the white Schengen,” he said, referring to the aim to ease the Schengen visa regime for Bosnian citizens.

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EC support for compensating nuclear plant closure

The European Commission’s President Jose Manuel Barroso has voiced a clear position in support for further compensating Bulgaria for the closing of two units of its Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

Bulgarian PM Sergei Stanishev had met with Barroso during the EU Summit in Brussels, and afterwards announced that Bulgaria could receive further compensation, amounting to €600 million. Barroso had said that Bulgaria had a very strong and well grounded point for requesting further compensations. He had taken the responsibility to work together with European institutions to ensure a fair outcome for Bulgaria. The opportunity for agreeing further compensation would arise during the review of the EU’s budget.

Former Kosovan PM arrested entering Bulgaria

Agim Çeku was prime minister of Kosovo from October 2006, in the period leading up to the region’s unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008. He had previously been Chief of the General Staff of the Kosovan Liberation Army, a paramilitary formation of insurgents that he had turned into a regular western-type army. But, based on a Serbian conviction for genocide and war crimes in 1998-99, he has been for some years on the Interpol ‘wanted’ list. On 23 June he was detained entering Bulgaria from Macedonia at the Gyueshevo checkpoint.

Two border policemen reported to their commander that they had detained Agim Çeku. “He says he is a former PM of Kosovo and he has a valid visa”. Çeku was driving a black BMW alone. During the check up of his identification documents the Interpol order for immediate arrest of this person had appeared on the monitor. The border policemen therefore arrested Agim Çeku and put him in custody in the south-western town of Kyustendil. Now the Kyustendil regional court must rule within 40 days on whether to extradite Ceku to Serbia or to set him free, as Kosovo insists.

Çeku was on the Interpol list after being sentenced in absence by a Serbian court to 20 years in prison. Serbian prosecutors had accused him of genocide and war crimes, claiming he should take command responsibility for the murders of 669 Serbs and 18 other non-Albanians during Kosovo's war for independence.

Official representatives of the United States, Britain and France, are reported to have intervened demanding Çeku’s immediate release. The Kosovan government pointed out that the arrest warrant had been issued at the time of the Miloševic government, and its deadline had long since expired.

This is not the first international incident concerning Çeku. In May he was expelled from Colombia, after Serbia urged his arrest. There was no attempt to stop him when he then stopped off in France en route to the Balkans. In 2006 he had been detained in 2006 in both Slovenija and Hungary.

The independence of Kosovo, unilaterally declared in February 2008, has not yet been universally recognised. The United States and more than 50 other countries have recognised its independence, but more than 100 have not, including Serbia and Russia. Bulgaria has recognised Kosovo despite misgivings about the international legality of its declaration of independence.

40th National Assembly officially dissolved

Members of the 40th Bulgarian National Assembly (parliament) held their last session on 25 June. Its MPs had not convened between 15 and 24 June due to the election campaign for Bulgaria's parliamentary elections.

But internal party bickering marred even its official last day. The parliamentary groups of the far-right, nationalist "Ataka" party and of the movement "Forward" fell apart while the RZS group ("Order, Lawfulness and Justice") became the largest opposition force.

Ataka's group actually fell apart a week ago when two of its MPs left, reducing the group to 9 MPs while the required minimum is 10. Two more Ataka MPs declared themselves independent on the final day.
The Speaker of Assembly, Georgi Pirinski, further declared at the final session that the parliamentary group of the "Forward" movement was now non-existent because the MPs from the VMRO and the Agricultural People Union parties had transferred their allegiance from "Forward" to RZS, making the RZS group swell to 19 members.

At the end, the Parliament concluded its work with 7 parliamentary groups. The new groups during the four years of the session were Bulgarian New Democracy (BND) and RZS.

During the official ceremony to mark the end of the 40th General Assembly, Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Bulgarian Socialist party (BSP), Sergey Stanishev, thanked the MPs for the trust they bestowed on him and the huge work they had done. 189 MPs out of 240 attended the final session along with members of the Cabinet, high ranking magistrates and the PM. But a noted absentee was the leader of the ethnic Turkish DPS party (Movement for Right and Freedoms).

 
Links: 
Bulgarian Government

The European Stability Initiative looks at the transformation of Bulgaria since 1997

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Border dispute still not resolved

Croatia and Slovenija failed to resolve their long-standing border dispute at an EU-brokered meeting between Foreign Minister Gordan Jandroković and his Slovenian counterpart Samuel Zbogar in Brussels on 18 June.

Samuel Žbogar later said that Croatia has broken off negotiations by turning down EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn's latest proposal on the issue.

Gordan Jandroković, however, denied that, saying his government had accepted the final compromise offer. Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has urged Slovenija to lift its blockade of Croatia's EU accession talks. He offered two proposals aimed at ending the impasse, both involving documentation of the border. Žbogar said he found it "puzzling" that Croatia was offering alternative proposals while negotiations were still ongoing.

Agreement reached on privatising shipyards

Following a meeting with EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes in Brussels, Economy Minister Damir Polancec said on 17 June that the Croatian side had finally agreed with the European Commission (EC) on privatising all six shipyards in the country. The restructuring has been a main impediment during Croatia's EU accession talks.

The agreement clears the way for negotiations on the competition chapter of Croatia's acquis to open. The EC requested that restructuring begin before the chapter opens, as it believes state subsidies violate EU rules. Polancec said the agreement also paved the way for the launch of tender procedures for the six companies, possibly early in July. The plan foresees a separate privatisation model for the Uljanik shipbuilding company, the only profitable one.

HDZ performs strongly in Croatian elections

In local elections held on 17 May the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) and its coalition partners managed to win the most votes in 14 counties out of 22 counties. Preliminary results from the State Electoral Commission suggested that the leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, had won in five counties, while a regional party, the Istrian Democratic Assembly, won county council elections in Istria.

As expected, the SDP outperformed its main opponent in most of the major cities, yet by a smaller margin than expected. Rijeka remains the SDP's stronghold. It also retained a very strong presence in Zagreb, gaining 33.3% of the votes, compared to 18.4% for the HDZ-led coalition. But in Split the SDP must still fight in a second round for electing the mayor on 31 May.

Results in Osijek confirmed the dominance of the regional HDSSB (Croatian Democratic Parliament of Slavonia and Baranja), which secured nearly one third of the votes for the city council.

Link to Croatian Information Centre

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No Czech European commissioner until October elections

Prime Minister Jan Fischer said on 15 June that the country's next European Commissioner should be agreed upon only after the elections to be held in October. When asked whether this would mean that the Czech Republic missed out on some of the more significant posts within the Commission, however, the PM said he feared that might well be the case. The two biggest parties in the Czech Parliament, the Social Democrats and the Civic Democrats, had said that they did not want Fischer's caretaker cabinet to decide upon the country's next European Commissioner, while the smallest party in Parliament, the Greens, want negotiations to start right away, saying the post of European Commissioner should not be a cushy job for some retiring politician.

New political party expects high membership

The newly launched centre-right party TOP 09, said on 14 June that it was receiving hundreds of requests for membership. A quick poll conducted by the STEM research centre at the weekend suggested that the new party could receive as much as 40% voter support in the elections to take place in October. TOP 09 is currently being led by Karel Schwarzenberg, a former foreign minister who held that post on behalf of the Green Party and has been consistently ranked the country's most popular politician.

The TOP 09 party was unveiled in Prague on 11 June by one of its founders, the former Christian Democrat and finance minister, Miroslav Kalousek, and the party’s designated leader, Senator and former foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg. In the general elections scheduled for October, the new group will seek to offer an alternative to those dissatisfied with the state of Czech politics. Speaking on Radio Prague, Karel Schwarzenberg explained why he had agreed to lead the new party. “The results of the last elections – the worst were the election to the European Parliament, but even the national elections – show that the degree of support for political parties by Czech citizens is going steadily down. People are evidently not content with the parties that are offered to them, and they are more and more fed up. … We decided to offer at least some alternative.” … “First of all, we have to get into Parliament. We hope to gain around 10 rather than around 5 percent. Each percentage point on top of that would be wonderful but one should be modest.”

Previously as foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg had been a Green party member. He said that he recognised he did not have the support of any part of the Green constituency, but that as a former forester he would remain a proponent of that party's ideals. The Green Party chairman and vice-chairman also resigned earlier in the week.

Former finance minister Miroslav Kalousek proposed that the new party would stand for tradition, responsibility and prosperity. It would be based on a platform of social conservativism and fiscal responsibility with a strong emphasis on "Europe's Judeo-Christian tradition". Gpoing back some time as a leading member of the Christian Democrats, Kalousek because of what he saw as increasing leftward tendencies. Five other Christian Democrat MPs have also left the party, reducing its tally of MPs from 13 to seven.

President Klaus presents Arpad Göncz with Saint Adalbert Prize

President Václav Klaus on 13 June presented the former Hungarian president Arpad Göncz with the Saint Adalbert Prize for Peace, Freedom and Co-operation in Europe. Arpad Göncz himself could not be present at the ceremony in Prague for health reasons so the award was accepted in his name by his daughter - Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz. The prize comes from the Adalbert Stiftung foundation in Krefeld, Germany, and was awarded for the contribution made by Arpad Göncz to Hungary's peaceful path to democracy and for his long-time efforts to deepen good neighbourly relations on the continent.

Constitutional Court sets a precedent in age-discrimination case

The Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of a man who had accused the Office of the Government of age discrimination. The man claimed that he and five other employees over 50 had been sacked on the grounds of a planned re-organisation under which their posts were to have been scrapped. But a few months later these positions were all filled by young people under 28 years of age. Several court verdicts went in favour of the Office of the Government until the man filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court, which has now overturned the earlier verdicts. Its ruling is seen as an important precedent. The case will now go back to a lower court to be reviewed.

Commemorative ceremony to mark Lidice massacre

A commemorative ceremony has been held to mark the 67th anniversary of the Lidice massacre by the Nazis. The country's political leaders, among them President Václav Klaus and Senate chairman Premysl Sobotka, cultural figures and war veterans attended a wreath laying ceremony and concert held in memory of those killed in the brutal massacre. The old Lidice, a village north-west of Prague, was one of two villages which were completely destroyed by German forces in reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the highest ranking Nazi official in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. On 10 June 1942, all 192 men over 15 years of age were rounded up and shot, the women were sent to concentration camps and the children to be re-educated. The second village Ležáky was razed to the ground in a similar manner a fortnight later.

Speaking at the commemorative ceremony in Lidice, President Václav Klaus expressed concern over growing extremism in the Czech Republic and said the authorities should take a much tougher line. He said that some ministers and mayors were unnecessarily cautious in using the law. Last week the police conducted the biggest ever anti-extremist operation in the country, arresting and charging ten far-right radicals in the process. The interior ministry has promised to provide towns and municipalities with a manual on how to fight various forms of extremism more effectively.

Sculpture that sparked controversy in Brussels meant to be “fun”

The sculpture Entropa has been one of the most reported on aspects of the Czech presidency of the European Union. The artwork, which was placed in an EU building in Brussels, lampoons national stereotypes, for instance portraying Romania as a Dracula theme park and France as a country on strike. Sculptor David Černý also managed to deceive the government, who commissioned Entropa for its period of EU Presidency, into thinking it was the work of artists from various EU states, when in fact he alone was the author.

The gigantic sculpture is now on show at Prague’s Dox gallery of modern art. At its opening ceremony on 11 June, Černý said that while he did poke fun at aspects of Europe, he was in no way against the EU.

The sculpture was taken down early, which Černý said was “In reaction to the bringing down of the previous government, which was my previous government. … I just decided that I don’t want to have anything in common with the government that is there now. They include a couple of old communists and I didn’t want to have anything to do with them.”

French PM links low turnout at EU elections to 'unacceptable' Czech EU presidency

The French prime minister François Fillon has criticised the Czech EU presidency and linked its period in charge to the low turnout at the June European Parliament elections. Addressing the French Parliament, Fillon said that, under the Czech presidency, the European Union had returned to its classic approach of slowly finding the least bad consensus. This Europe of 'small steps and compromises' was 'wholly unacceptable', he said. In his speech, Fillon said that European citizens did not agree with this approach and had voiced their protest by failing to turn out at the weekend elections. On 10 June Mirek Topolánek, the former head of the Czech EU presidency when he was prime minister, brushed aside Fillon's criticism. Quoted by the Czech newspaper Pravo, he dismissed François Fillon's criticisms as small-minded.

Social Democrats would win general elections if held now

A poll conducted by the Median agency and released on 10 June suggested that the Social Democrats would win a general election if it were held at this point. Almost 36% of respondents said that they would vote for the Social Democrats led by Jiri Paroubek, while the former majority party the Civic Democrats would win only 28% of the vote. The Median poll found that the Communist Party and the Christian Democrats would also cross the 5% threshold necessary to gain seats in parliament.

The opinions seen in the Median poll were not reflected in the weekend's elections to the European Parliament. The Social Democrats finished second with 22.4%, well behind the Civic Democrats with 31.5%. Only just over one in four Czechs voted in the European elections, the same proportion as in the previous elections five years earlier. But in 2004 the Social Democrats got less than 9% of the votes cast.

See the European Parliament election results for all central and south-east European countries.

Five of 13 Christian Democrat MPs quit party

Five MPs have left the Christian Democrats, which had been the fourth biggest grouping in the Czech lower house, and a coalition paetner of the previous Civic Democrat government. Miroslav Kalousek, Jan Husák, Ladislav Šustr, Vlasta Parkanová and Pavel Severa all said on 9 June that they were leaving the party. There are now only eight MPs left in the Christian Democrat group in parliament, which is headed by the party's new leader Cyril Svoboda.

Miroslav Kalousek, who was finance minister in the previous government, had been planning to form a new centre-right party named TOP 09 to contest the general elections in October. It was also reported that a number of Christian Democrat senators were considering leaving the party.

Green Party leader resigns after poor showing in European elections

Martin Bursík has resigned as leader of the Greens in the wake of a poor showing for the party in elections to the European Parliament at the weekend. The Green Party received just 2% of the vote, falling well short of the 5% threshold needed to win any seats. Speaking after a five-hour meeting of the Greens' leadership, Bursík said he was taking personal responsibility for the party's electoral failure. Deputy head Ondrej Liška has been named acting chairman and will lead the Greens into the October elections. At the last general election the Green party secured six seats in parliament.

The Green Party has for some time been beset by internal divisions which resulted in three different Green parties fielding candidates, all of which did badly in the European elections.

On 8 June, as the European election results were announced, Martin Bursík told the party leadership the time had come for him to go. “The party leader has the main share of responsibility for the party’s results. I was part of the campaign and am ready to bear responsibility for our poor showing. I’m not running away from politics or from my responsibility, but the time has come for me to step aside and give someone else the opportunity to lead the party into the general election.”

Cabinet seeks vote of confidence on 7 June

It was announced on 26 May that the Chamber of Deputies would hold a vote of confidence in Jan Fischer's caretaker cabinet on 7 June. According to the Czech Constitution, the interim prime minister's cabinet has 30 days to secure a vote of confidence after being appointed. Sunday 7 June is the last day that Jan Fischer's cabinet could constitutionally hold the vote. The same day, the speaker of the lower house Miloslav Vlček said that he was opposed to the idea of holding the vote before the European elections on 5-6 June, as a vote of confidence in the new cabinet could be misused in the election campaign. Vlček added that he believed there would be 'no obstruction' to Jan Fischer's cabinet surviving the vote.

The previous day the caretaker government had finalised its policy programme. The statement of priorities would pave the way for Prime Minister Jan Fischer to ask the lower house for a confidence vote. The government is virtually assured of winning the vote given that the two main political parties played the major role in its creation.

Survey puts main parties neck and neck for European Parliament elections

A survey ahead of June's European Parliament elections has put the two main Czech political parties roughly equal in voter support. The survey by the Palacky University in Olomouc showed the right-wing Civic Democrats and left-wing Social Democrats each with 29% of intended support. The Communists came third with 15% and the Christian Democrats had 5.5%. The Greens appeared unlikely to pass the 5% threshold needed to win any MEP seats.

Around 40% of Czechs interviewed said they intended to take part in the vote on 5 and 6 June.

A different survey by the CVVM agency had put the Civic Democrats ahead with 36.5% and the Social Democrats behind with 28%.

National Party to sue for European Parliament election to be invalidated

The extreme right National Party intends to request that elections to the European Parliament be invalidated. This followed the banning of their election commercials from Czech TV and Radio. The party stated on 24 May that following the elections it would take its complaint to court and to the relevant institutions of the EU. Czech TV did in fact broadcast an ad by the neo-Nazi party last week, which contained words offering a "final solution to the gypsy question" – an expression used by the Nazis during World War 2 in reference to the extermination of Jews, Roma and others.

Secretary-General of Council of Europe outraged

Christian Democrats still undecided on leader one week before national convention

The final meetings of the regional chapters of the Christian and Democratic Union at the weekend of 23/24 May failed to result in any clear support for a party leader. The party's current head, Jiří Čunek, was endorsed by secret ballot only in his home region of Zlín. Other candidates in the running for the leadership of the country's fourth party have included former foreign minister Cyril Svoboda, MP Michaela Sojdrová and Euro MP Jan Brezina. The Christian Democratic Party has been suffering from in-fighting between those favouring the current party chairman and members who have taken sides with former chairman Miroslav Kalousek. But he had stated earlier in the week that he would have no further involvement in the party. Kalousek is expected to announce a new conservative party soon after the Christian Democrat party's national convention.

Secretary-General of Council of Europe outraged at National Party TV ad

The Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, expressed outrage on 22 May over a TV ad by the Czech neo-Nazi National Party, offering a "final solution to the Gypsy question". Under the law on political parties, the ad was broadcast this week by public broadcaster Czech TV ahead of elections to the European Parliament. But the station's director has said it will not air again. Czech TV also filed a lawsuit against the extreme right-wing party. Secretary-General Davis said he shared the concern of a large number of TV viewers in the Czech Republic and believed that the use of the words 'final solution' transgressed the framework for freedom of speech. The expression was used by the Nazis in the extermination of millions of Jews, Roma, handicapped and others during World War 2.

Fence around site for controversial radar base removed

The Czech military started on 21 May removing the 3-kilometre barbed wire fence around the site in Brdy, south-west of Prague that had been proposed for a U.S. radar base. Defence Minister Martin Bartak, appointed two weeks ago, ordered the fence be removed on the grounds that it was no longer serving any purpose and the future of the planned radar base was uncertain. The fence was put up in June 2008 after Greenpeace activists blocked the site for six weeks in protest against the base. A few Greenpeace activists turned up to celebrate its removal.

It emerged this week that the current interim government would not be sending the issue of the proposed radar base to the lower house of parliament. It would leave the matter in the hands of the administration after the next general election. The Senate had previously approved Czech-US treaties allowing for the placing of a radar base in central Bohemia, but former prime minister Mirek Topolánek withdrew the matter from the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies due to lack of support. It is not clear whether the United States still plans to go ahead with the construction of the anti-missile shield project proposed by the previous Bush administration.

Majority see Jan Fischer as a good prime minister

An opinion poll for the newspaper Pravo carried out in mid May by the STEM agency suggested that 55% of Czechs regard Jan Fischer as a good prime minister. Just over a quarter of respondents took the opposite view. Meanwhile, three quarters of those polled said they believed Jan Fischer's cabinet would win a confidence vote. His caretaker government, which was appointed on 8 May, had 30 days to win approval by the lower house.

Nicholas Winton celebrates his 100th birthday

Sir Nicholas Winton – the British man who helped save 669 Czechoslovak Jewish children from the Nazis in 1939 – received a telegram from the Queen on 19 May to mark his 100th birthday. As well as the traditional reunion with those “Winton children” who settled in Britain after the war, there were a number of events in the Czech Republic to mark his centenary.

Nicholas Winton’s act of compassion and determination – he refuses to call it heroism – shortly before the outbreak of war helped save hundreds of Jewish children from the Nazis. Winton had visited Czechoslovakia by chance in late 1938 at the urging of a friend. He was appalled at the conditions for refugee children, many of whom had fled into what remained of the country after Germany annexed the Sudetenland. Nicholas Winton told Radio Prague in a 2007 interview that he foresaw what was coming next as Hitler marched through Europe.

Back in London, he organised a series of trains to bring Czechoslovak refugee children – mostly Jewish - to safety, finding new homes for them in the UK. He had saved 669 when war broke out in September 1939. He then just filed away all the paperwork from the operation in his loft, and the story was forgotten until the 1980s. Since then there have been films, documentaries, books, and a knighthood for the man dubbed ‘the English Schindler’.

His birthday was also marked in the Czech Republic, with the opening of a garden on Prague’s Petrín Hill dedicated to those who saved children during the war, and also by the 178 pupils of the Nicholas Winton Primary School in the South Bohemian town of Kunžak.

The biggest event, however, will be later in the year on 1 September, when a special train will leave Prague’s main station, retracing the children’s journey across Nazi-occupied Europe to London’s Liverpool Street station. The date is significant. Not only is it the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of war, but it is also the day the last of Winton’s trains was due to leave Prague, carrying its cargo of frightened children. But it never left, and none of them are thought to have survived.

President and Senate at odds over Lisbon Treaty

President Václav Klaus and the Czech Senate were engaged in mid May in a war of words over the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in the upper chamber of Parliament. Shortly after the vote, President Klaus said the treaty's ratification was a failure by the country's political elite to defend Czech interests. On 11 May Senate chairman Premysl Sobotka hit back, reminding the President that the upper chamber was a sovereign legislative body to which Klaus owed his re-election as head of state. Earlier, Senate Deputy Chairwoman Alena Gajdusková voiced the opinion that impeachment proceedings could be started against the President if he failed to respect Parliament's decision and now sign the Lisbon Treaty. President Klaus has made it clear he would not be signing the Lisbon treaty any time soon, and pronounced it to be "dead", on the grounds of the Irish referendum.

Former deputy PM criticises French President

The French daily newspaper Le Monde reported on 9 May that the former Czech deputy prime minister for European affairs, Alexandr Vondra, had criticised French President Nicolas Sarkozy for having complicated the Czech EU presidency. Vondra, who handed over responsibility for the EU agenda to his successor in the new government the previous day, criticised the French head of state at the EU summit for Eastern Partnership which was held in Prague on 7 May, which had been ignored by leaders of several EU countries including France. The former Czech deputy PM also said that Sarkozy's "imperial style" and unpredictable moods made things more difficult for the collective presidency of the EU.

Sweden, the next country to hold the rotating EU Presidency, has been more ready to assist the Czech Republic. Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeld told Swedish Radio on 8 May that his country would take on greater responsibility during the remainder of the Czech presidency of the EU. Reinfeld said his country, which is scheduled to take over in July, faced a higher level of involvement because of the fall of the Czech government. It was better to provide assistance to the new Czech government immediately in order to successfully complete the period, particularly because in June the EU will hold an important summit to deal with the situation in Ireland and also to elect the new head of the European Commission.

"Government of experts" until October elections

Less than two weeks after the government was defeated in a no-confidence vote, the opposition Social Democrats together with the three parties in the outgoing coalition (Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats and Greens) have come to a joint agreement. They announced on 5 April that the new interim prime minister to lead the country until early elections would be Jan Fischer. The compromise had settled on a “government of experts”. The 15 posts in his interim cabinet have been shared between the coalition and the Social Democrats.

Jan Fischer has for some years been the head of the Czech Statistical Office, the body that produces official data on everything from the economy to the environment. The majority of Czechs have never heard of him. He is said to be a quiet man, with good language skills. He should take over as prime minister by the second week in May and lead the government until early elections to be held on 9 and 10 October. He became head of the statistical office in 2003, is politically non-partisan, although he had been a member of the Communist Party from 1980 to 1989.

Speaking on 6 April in a radio interview, President Václav Klaus said that he was 'surprised' but 'happy in principle' with the choice of Jan Fischer as prime minister. The President praised the various political parties who, he said, had overcome their ideological differences to agree upon the new prime minister. He had known Jan Fischer for more than 30 years and welcomed the latter's appointment.

Modern Czech translation of the Bible appears after 17 years of work

A new translation of the Bible into modern-day Czech was published at the beginning of April. The New Testament part was actually first published a decade ago, but only now have the translators completed the Old Testament.

Alexandr Flek, head of the team producing The Bible – a 21st Century Translation, explained: “We belong to a generation of people who were not raised in the Christian faith, and we are not very familiar with the language of the existing Bible translations, which were quite archaic. The only available translations were the beautiful Bible Kralická from 1613, which is very much like the King James Version in English – beautiful, very lusty language, a very precise translation, but its language was of course difficult to understand, as it was 400 years old. The only other alternative was the Czech ecumenical translation which came into existence in the 1970s.”

The major concerns were accuracy and readability, and the ability to communicate. “So we are of course building on the existing translations; we are especially inspired by the Bible of Kralice which is beautiful in its literary approach.” At the same time the team drew on the latest findings of Biblical studies, and the new publication has already generated some very positive reviews “from a whole range of Czech churches and various universities and seminaries, including Catholic and Protestant. And we also got some warm responses from the Jewish Community in Prague as well.”

Senators considering first ever emergency session for Lisbon approval

The Senate, the upper house of parliament, may have to be convened for an emergency session in order to force a vote on the Lisbon Treaty, Civic Democrat Senator Jiří Stříteský said on 31 March. Such a session would be the first in the chamber's history. The Social Democratic Party is moving to get Lisbon ratification on the Senate agenda through the standard process. The party has insisted on an April Senate vote and has stated that it has the necessary signatures of all SDP senators to be able to convene an emergency session.

The Senate is dominated by the Civic Democrat party and the head of the Senate Premysl Sobotka has stated his own view that convening an emergency session would be technically impossible – it would be difficult in terms of timing and practicality.

Separately, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has moved to dispel fears that the domestic political crisis will spill over into its EU presidency. In an interview on 30 March on a German internet site, he pointed out that institutions in Prague and Brussels were continuing to function normally. Schwarzenberg went on to say that he hoped the Czech Republic would ratify the Lisbon Treaty in the coming weeks, and that the problem lay with delays in the Senate.

The Czech Republic is one of four EU member states that have yet to fully ratify the Lisbon Treaty. The Czech Chamber of Deputies passed the treaty in February; Senate approval is still required before the Treaty can be signed by the President and thus become ratified.

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16,000 people have emigrated in 8 years

A study released in mid April by the agency Statistics Estonia reported that, over the last eight years, approximately 16,000 people had been lost to the overall population due to emigration.  Early census data did not account for migration in population tallies.

As of January 2008, the population was 1.34 million without emigration statistics and 1.32 with emigration accounted for.

The statistics bureau reported that the biggest changes were seen in the main cities Tallinn, Tartu and Narva.

Controversial Soviet war hero dies while on trial

Arnold Meri, who died on 27 March at the age of 89, was buried in Tallinn on 2 April. He was a Soviet war hero who, in his native Estonia, had been put on trial over his role in Stalin-era deportations. During the judicial proceedings he admitted playing a part in the deportation of 251 civilians in 1949, but denied the charge of genocide. In fact Estonia's contention that genocide took place on that occasion is not widely accepted internationally. The Estonian security police say that more than 40 of those deported from the island of Hiiumaa in 1949 either died on the way to, or in, Siberian camps.

Meri was the last surviving Estonian to have been awarded the top USSR military decoration in WW2, the Gold Star. He was a cousin of Estonia's first post-independence president, the late Lennart Meri. Wounded in combat as a Soviet soldier early in the war, Arnold Meri served as an official in Estonia after the country was re-annexed by the Red Army, which drove out Nazi forces.

Russia has long been locked in a dispute with Estonia over the Soviet legacy. Symbolically, within hours of Meri’s death Russia awarded him the Order of Honour posthumously.

Since winning independence from the USSR in 1991, Estonia has been attempting to prosecute those who helped in the deportation of more than 20,000 Estonians to Siberian camps. But at the same time Estonia has been accused of failing to pursue suspected war criminals who sided with the Nazis.

Link: Estonian government website

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