Prague- Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said his party's lawmakers were not ready to vote on the European Union's Reform Treaty on Tuesday and asked to delay the vote until early next year after his country's EU presidency starts on January 1.

The leader of the party's lawmakers, Petr Tluchor, warned that if the chamber enforced the vote on Tuesday, the treaty would be likely spiked as the party lacks enough votes in its favour.

The Czech Republic is the last member state to vote on the treaty, also known as the Lisbon Treaty, which has been stalled since Irish voters rejected it in June.

Prague - The Czech Republic recorded a foreign trade deficit of 3.95 billion koruny (200 million dollars) in October, the first gap in 2008, as exports fell significantly amid the global financial crisis, preliminary government data showed Monday.

The October trade balance was 12.1 billion koruny lower compared to the same period last year, the worst negative year-on-year change since 1994, the Czech Statistical Office said.

The statisticians said that exports dropped 10.7 per cent in October year-on-year, the biggest drop in nearly 10 years, while October imports were down 5.9 per cent annually.

Prague - The Czech Republic's inflation slowed down in November to 4.4 per cent, lowest in a year, as the country braced for a fallout of the global financial crisis, government data showed Monday.

The November annual inflation rate dropped significantly from 6 per cent recorded in October chiefly owing to a lower rise in food and transport prices, the Czech Statistical Office said.

Consumer prices fell 0.5 per month-on-month as fuel prices kept falling for the fifth month. Falling inflation enables the central bank to further slash the country's borrowing costs.

Prague  - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek successfully defended place in his party's top post Sunday, a sign of continuity for the European Union as the Czech Republic prepares to chair the bl

Prague - Czech President Vaclav Klaus Saturday cut ties with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek on the eve of the Czech Republic's EU presidency and a half year before European Parliament elections.

Speaking at a key party congress, Klaus said he "definitively" yielded honorary chairmanship of the party he founded nearly 18 years ago because he could not identify with the policies of its current leadership.

"I know for sure that these are not the policies with which I founded and led the ODS for many years," he told the shocked delegates.

Prague  - Czech President Vaclav Klaus's meeting with leaders of the European Parliament Friday ended in a rift, according to reports citing meeting's participants and Klaus' office.

The president, who is an outspoken critic of the European Union, was angered by questions from Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the head of the European Greens.

Klaus' aide told reporters after the meeting that the president "considers Cohn-Bendit's behaviour a big provocation."

Cohn-Bendit said that Klaus was infuriated by his question on his relationship to Irish businessman and anti-EU activist Declan Ganley, who successfully rallied opposition to the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland, aktualne. cz news web site reported.