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Sceptical Czechs may be pushed to change tone on euro

April 26, 2013 06:31
By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - When Czech President Milos Zeman said last week his country could join the euro by 2018, he met with little more than a shrug from the country's other political leaders who have shied away from setting a date. Yet his strongly pro-European views - he made a show of hoisting the European Union's flag for the first time at Prague Castle when he took office last month - may be a first sign that one of the EU's most reluctant members will change its tune.

Sceptical Czechs may be pushed to change tone on euro

April 26, 2013 06:30
By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - When Czech President Milos Zeman said last week his country could join the euro by 2018, he met with little more than a shrug from the country's other political leaders who have shied away from setting a date. Yet his strongly pro-European views - he made a show of hoisting the European Union's flag for the first time at Prague Castle when he took office last month - may be a first sign that one of the EU's most reluctant members will change its tune.

Zeman sworn in as Europe-friendly Czech president

March 8, 2013 07:46
Europe-friendly leftist Milos Zeman was sworn in as Czech president on Friday, replacing ardent eurosceptic Vaclav Klaus and becoming the EU member state's first head of state elected in a direct vote. Zeman, 68, earned a standing ovation for his inaugural speech in which he vowed to play "the role of a mediator and moderator" in the republic's rough-and-tumble political scene. But analysts have warned that the veteran leftist is likely to engage in a tug-of-war with the wobbly and austerity oriented centre-right minority government of Prime Minister Petr Necas.

FACTBOX-Political risks to watch in the Czech Republic

February 1, 2013 09:30
By Jan Lopatka Prague, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The election of leftist Czech President Milos Zeman last week will bring more difficulties to the country's weakened centre-right cabinet, although he has no direct power to unseat the government. Zeman, prime minister in 1998-2002, made a political comeback when he beat Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg in the first-ever direct presidential election.

UPDATE 2-Leftist ex-PM Zeman wins Czech presidential election

January 26, 2013 11:30
* Former PM Zeman beats Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg * Zeman to take Czechs closer to European mainstream * Critics note links with former communist officials (Adds quotes from Zeman, Schwarzenberg, updates results) By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Leftist former prime minister Milos Zeman won the Czech Republic's first direct presidential election on Saturday, beating a conservative opponent he had accused of favouring foreign interests in a bitter campaign.
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