Prague - The European Union would not be ready any time soon to accept into its ranks the six former Soviet countries that the 27- member bloc hopes to bring closer through its Eastern Partnership initiative, an EU official said Monday.
"Let's understand that the European Union is not ready to accept a single one of those six countries into its ranks," said outgoing Czech Vice-Premier for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra, whose country chairs the EU until June 30.
Prague - Czech rival party leaders agreed Sunday on a new caretaker premier, Czech Statistics Office chief Jan Fischer, whose interim government would complete the country's presidency of the European Union, local reports said, citing party leaders.
The Czech Republic holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency until June 30.
Fischer, 58, would be a newcomer to the world of top-level politics, following a statistics career mostly in public sector and academia.
Prague - US President Barak Obama is likely to face pressure from Washington's European Union (EU) allies at an US-EU summit in Prague to draw up concrete measures to combat global warming.
After delivering a speech in central Prague calling for world action to face up to the threat posed by nuclear proliferation, Obama was meeting with the heads of the
27-member EU.
Speaking ahead of the US-EU summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU expected Obama to present concrete steps aimed at dealing with climate change.
Prague - The European Union (EU) joined the international community Sunday in strongly condemning North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket.
A statement issued by the Czech government, which currently holds the EU's sixth-month rotating presidency, said the North Korean action placed additional strains on regional stability and was contrary to United Nations resolutions.
"These actions place additional strains on regional stability at a time when the unresolved nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula requires mutual confidence building," the EU said.
Prague - European Union finance ministers said Saturday that matching US accounting rules, which allow US banks discretion over pricing their impaired mortgage assets, bore "critical importance" so European banks are not operating at a disadvantage.
The ministers, meeting informally in Prague, called on the continent's setter of accounting rules, the International Accounting Standards Board, "to cooperate closely" with its US counterpart "with the aim of achieving equivalent treatment... in order to avoid risks of competitive distortions."
Prague - The European Union would not be ready any time soon to accept into its ranks the six former Soviet countries that the 27- member bloc hopes to bring closer through its Eastern Partnership initiative, an EU official said Monday.
Prague - Czech rival party leaders agreed Sunday on a new caretaker premier, Czech Statistics Office chief Jan Fischer, whose interim government would complete the country's presidency of the European Union, local reports said, citing party leaders.
Prague - US President Barak Obama is likely to face pressure from Washington's European Union (EU) allies at an US-EU summit in Prague to draw up concrete measures to combat global warming.
Prague - The European Union (EU) joined the international community Sunday in strongly condemning North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket.
Prague - European Union finance ministers said Saturday that matching US accounting rules, which allow US banks discretion over pricing their impaired mortgage assets, bore "critical importance" so European banks are not operating at a disadvantage.
