The Czech Government today set the drug possession limits under which the possession of up to 1.5 grams of heroin, up to one gram of cocaine and up to two grams of methamphetamine will not be punishable as of New Year, Czech newspaper Česke Noviny reports.
Czechs will also be able to legally possess up to 15 grams of marijuana.

The Czech constitutional court has ruled that the Lisbon Treaty is in line with the constitution, clearing the way for President Vaclav Klaus to sign it, the BBC reports.
The Czech Republic is the only EU member yet to ratify the treaty, and the decision removes one of the last hurdles for its passage.
The eurosceptic Klaus, who was awaiting the court’s decision, has said he will not further oppose the treaty. If he signs, that would pave the way for the treaty to come into effect throughout the EU on 1st December.

Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said yesterday that his country would ratify the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty by the year’s end if the text gets a go-ahead from top judges next week, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The treaty cleared a major hurdle yesterday as the EU agreed on an exemption to it as a final condition by eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus, the last EU leader holding out on signing the text.
The Czech Republic is the …

Czech President Václav Klaus, who is the last hurdle to full ratification of the Lisbon treaty, has made a final attempt to derail the agreement, The Times reports.
In a submission to the Czech constitutional court, which will decide tomorrow whether the treaty is compatible with the country’s constitution, Klaus has suggested that it should be subject to a referendum. He attacked the EU notion of “shared sovereignty” as a contradiction that effectively means a loss of …

Czech President Vaclav Klaus is satisfied with an EU proposal that meets demands he made for an opt-out on the bloc’s Lisbon Treaty, the BBC reports.
Klaus wanted an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights which covers EU citizens’ rights. He was concerned the charter could allow property claims by Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II to circumvent courts.
“The president… received the Swedish presidency’s proposal which is a response to his request related to …

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today after meeting with the US Vice President Joe Biden that his country is ready to participate in the revamped plan for a US missile defence shield in Europe, the Washington Post reports.
US President Barack Obama removed a major irritant in relations with Russia last month by scrapping plans to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic – deployments Moscow treated as a threat. …

The last man resisting the European Union’s Lisbon treaty, Czech President Vaclav Klaus indicated yesterday that he was ready to relent, admitting that he could not stall long enough to give Conservative leader David Cameron the chance to call a British referendum, The Times reports.
66-year-old Klaus said that while he was personally against the treaty, it had become like an unstoppable train after being ratified in all 26 other EU countries. He confirmed that Cameron had …

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel said that his successor Vaclav Klaus’ refusal to sign the Lisbon Treaty is absurd, irresponsible and damaging to the country, The Times reports.
73-year-old Havel, the playwright who has saint-like status in the Czech Republic, used an event to mark the Velvet Revolution of 1989 to attack Klaus yesterday for holding out on the treaty, which has been ratified in the 26 other EU countries and awaits the signature of the …

Brussels warned yesterday that the Czechs could lose their European Commissioner if President Vaclav Klaus didn’t sign the notorious Lisbon Treaty, but Klaus maintained an enigmatic silence and refused to sign document.
“President Klaus has not received any guarantees that ratification of the Lisbon treaty will go on in the way he wants,” Ladisav Jakl, his top aide, said, according to The Times. “In this case, he cannot guarantee anything.”
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso threatened yesterday …

Czech President Vaclav Klaus has no intention of signing the Lisbon treaty, a move that might allow Tory leader David Cameron time to hold a British referendum on Europe, The Times reports.
Klaus, the fiercely eurosceptic Czech leader, is the last obstacle for the agreement after its ratification in the other 26 EU states but he has told supporters that he will never sign. Asked during a walkabout on Sunday not to put his name to the …

The Czech Cabinet meets in emergency session today to consider how to persuade their stubborn President to sign the Lisbon treaty — under intense pressure from Paris and Berlin to complete the ratification as soon as possible, The Times reports.
With President Vaclav Klaus demanding a last-minute amendment as the price of his signature — the final approval required in the 27-nation European Union — the Government are locked in a trial of strength with their …

The Czech Republic threw the future of the Lisbon treaty in doubt yesterday by demanding an amendment, even though the document has already been accepted by the rest of the EU, The Times reports.
The delay while the details are thrashed out — all member states must agree to changes — could allow David Cameron, the Conservative leader, to fulfil his promise of a British referendum.
Vaclav Klaus, the notoriously unpredictable Czech President, is seeking unspecified guarantees …

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is due to meet Czech PM Jan Fischer to discuss progress towards ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the BBC reports.
The Czech Republic is one of two EU members not to have ratified the treaty so far. Poland is expected to complete ratification in a few days’ time.
Following the Irish “Yes” vote at the weekend, only the Polish and Czech presidents have yet to sign. Both their respective parliaments have passed …

Now that the Irish have ratified the Lisbon Treaty, and with Poland expected to follow suit, all eyes are on one man – President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, the BBC reports.
The Czech parliament has approved the treaty, but Klaus, a harsh critic of the European Union, has so far refused to sign it. Czech ratification is currently on hold pending a new legal challenge to Lisbon. But the president has given the first hint …

Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern today at US President Barack Obama’s decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defence shield planned for their countries, the AP reports.
“Betrayal! The US sold us to Russia and stabbed us in the back,” the Polish tabloid Fakt declared on its front page.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he was concerned that Obama’s new strategy leaves Poland in a dangerous “gray zone” between Western Europe and the old Soviet sphere.
An editorial …

US President Barack Obama officially confirmed that the United States is dropping plans for the missile defence shield in Europe and replacing it with a “new missile defence architecture”, CNN reports.
The new system “will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defences against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 European missile defence program” proposed by former President George W. Bush, Obama claimed.
He did not go into details about the new …