Prague - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek will this week tour energy-rich states around the Caspian Sea as part of his role as president of the EU council, the EU office in Prague announced Wednesday.

Key topics under discussion will be cooperation, particularly in the field of energy. All three states on the Caspian Sea are involved in planning for a gas pipeline to Europe bypassing Russian supplies.

Prague - The Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek on Friday publicly criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy for comments made during a French TV interview about French cars being made in the Czech Republic.

In the interview broadcast on Thursday evening, Sarkozy said it was "irresponsible for cars for the French market to be produced in the Czech Republic."

Prague - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Thursday his government will meet on November 1 to set a date for adopting the euro, a change from his government's go-slow approach to Europe's common currency.

"November 1 is the date when the government will determine a date for adopting the euro," he said on Czech Television.

While the Czechs have been reluctant, other central European leaders have voiced their support for speedy euro adoption in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, seeing it as a shield during the ensuing slowdown of their economies.

Prague  - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's big test in 2009 will be juggling the nation's historic trans-Atlantic ties, his reserve toward the European Union and the task of chairing the EU.

Topolanek, whose country was occupied by Soviet troops during the Cold War, made it clear in 2008 that he sees strong US ties as the most reliable guard against Moscow.

In July, his government struck a deal with President George W Bush's administration to host a missile-defence radar base on Czech soil and was rewarded with visa-free US travel for its citizens.

Prague - The Czech Republic may set a eurozone entry date next year if the country shows it can meet the adoption criteria in the long run, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Monday.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Czech bankers, Topolanek said that the country should focus on catching up with the eurozone rather than on setting the euro target amid the global financial crisis.

"Next year will reveal whether we are meeting the criteria, whether we can meet them in the long term," he said.

Prague - Eastern European leaders congratulated US president-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday, but some allies appeared cautious about America's shift to the left.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek invited Obama to Prague, where Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a deal in July to place part of a US missile defence radar in the ex-communist nation.

Obama's victory "does not change relations" between Washington and Prague, said Topolanek, a centre-right leader and one of President George W Bush's strongest allies in the former Warsaw Pact area.