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Central European Initiative countries discuss EU accession process
Eleven prime ministers and six government ministers are meeting in the
Slovak spa town of Piestany for a two-day conference of the Central
European Initiative. The platform puts together countries from Central and
Eastern Europe, from Austria to Ukraine and from Albania to Poland and
focuses on regional cooperation, with an emphasis on economy.
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PM Paroubek to attend CEI meeting in Piestany
Among Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's official engagements this week
is a trip to the spa town of Piestany in neighbouring Slovakia. The trip
is political rather than medicinal: as well as taking the waters, Mr
Paroubek will be taking the temperature of Central Europe as he joins 16
other prime ministers for a meeting of the Central European Initiative.
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Czech politicians say restrictions on free movement of workers within EU should be removed
When Czech politicians were convincing Czech voters to say "yes"
in the referendum two years ago on joining the EU, one of the things they
promised was that Czech workers would be able to find a job anywhere in
the European Union. But with the exception of the United Kingdom, Ireland
and Sweden, all "old" EU members introduced temporary legal
barriers against a feared influx of workers from the east. No such thing
has materialised in the three countries that allowed free movement of
labour and that's one of the reasons why Czech politicians are now calling
for the removal of those restrictions in the rest of the old EU 15.
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Can nationalism in Central Europe be a force for good?
This week Czech Books comes from the Irish capital, Dublin. We talk to Dr
Stefan Auer, a lecturer in European politics and society at the Dublin
European Institute at University College. Stefan is originally from
Slovakia, and he has taken a great interest in "liberal
nationalism" in Central Europe. He wrote a book which has as its
basic hypothesis the idea that nationalism, despite its very negative
connotations for many in Central Europe, can also be a force towards
greater democracy.
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Musician, architect appeal to President Klaus to raise EU flag over Prague Castle
The Czech Republic has been a member of the European Union since May 2004,
but the EU still has the potential to cause controversy. The EU flag
flutters over the Foreign Ministry and the Government Office, but not over
Prague Castle, seat of the Czech President - in this case euro-sceptic
president Vaclav Klaus. Mr Klaus's refusal to fly the flag has angered two
well-known Czech personalities - musician Michal Kocab, who composed the
Castle fanfare, and Borek Sipek, architect to former president Vaclav
Havel. On Wednesday the two made a public appeal outside the Castle - Rob
Cameron spoke to Borek Sipek.
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