Former President Václav Havel may not have been a role model for all Czechs, but it is generally accepted that the West admired him whether his critics liked it or not, Renata Kalenská writes for the weekly Týden out yesterday.

The Czech government lacks convincing reasons for its rejection of the EU fiscal pact, using an alleged threat to national sovereignty as a substitute argument, economist Tomáš Sedláček writes for yesterday's issue of daily Hospodářské noviny.

The two pro-European parties, the junior coalition TOP 09 and the senior opposition Social Democrats (ČSSD), should file a constitutional complaint against President Václav Klaus for his refusal to sign the EU fiscal treaty, Jiří Pehe writes for yesterday's issue of daily Právo.

Voter preferences have surprisingly indicated that people are satisfied with the country's recent developments, including the government's unpopular reforms, Erik Tabery writes for the weekly Respekt out yesterday.

It is unfortunate that the government's decision to give a 38-billion crown loan to the IMF is dictated by internal interests rather than national interests, Martin Komárek writes for yesterday's issue of Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD).