Sticking points remain in coalition talks

There has been little progress over the holiday period in talks on the formation of a coalition of the Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Greens. It is not clear whether the three parties will be ready to sign a coalition deal later this week or early next year. Several sticking points remain, among them the Greens' nomination of Karel Schwarzenberg as foreign minister - President Vaclav Klaus has questioned his suitability because of the aristocrat's ties with Austria. Mr Schwarzenberg's family fled to Austria in 1948 and he spent 40 years there. However, in an interview in Wednesday's Mlada fronta Dnes he firmly rejected suggestions that he holds Austrian citizenship.

The three-party alliance is one vote short of a majority in the Chamber of Deputies and would need the support of at least one rebel left-wing MP to pass a confidence vote. The Czech Republic has been without a stable government since elections in June ended in stalemate.