President Klaus not to attend celebrations marking start of EU presidency

President Klaus will not be attending the official celebrations marking the start of the Czech Republic’s EU presidency. Wednesday’s gala evening at Prague’s National Theatre will be attended by the country’s leading political and cultural figures. The organizers have prepared a rich cultural programme conceived by the Forman brothers, the sons of film director Milos Forman. The president’s spokesman Radim Ochvat gave no reason for the president’s absence. The news site Lidovky.cz has called it the president’s first public boycott of the EU presidency.