In theory, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates all trips made by government ministers; in practice, things are a bit different. Thus within a week of one another, the Czech foreign and defense ministers will touch down in Vietnam to court bemused local officials. Coordination is often sacrificed because of coalition jealousies, officials says.

The spotlight has been put on serious European Commission reservations over Czech supervision of the way its funding is spent and administered as the Finance Ministry says it will not be seeking reimbursement of cash for two key structural fund programs until June.  By then, Prague hopes to have satisfied Brussels with stepped up supervision which will deflect a much more damaging funding freeze.

The whole of the Czech Republic  outside of the capital, Prague, comes in below the 75 percent EU average wealth ceiling and should therefore qualified for continued EU funding, according to new wealth figures based on Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) data.

Anti-nuclear protestors gathered in Mitterteich, Bavaria, on Sunday —  the first anniversary of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan — to voice their opposition to nuclear power in general, and specifically against expanding the Temelín power plant in South Bohemia, where the Czech state-controlled power major ČEZ intends to construct two new reactor blocks by 2025.