German, Czech Ministers Want to Extend Reconciliation Fund

Earlier this week, Vondra visited Berlin to talk about extending the "Fund for the Future'.

Praising Prague for avoiding the sort of friction that has arisen in recent months in Polish-German relations, Steinmeier said some 20 million euros ($25 million) would be needed to extend the term of the bilateral fund beyond its 2007 expiry date.

The fund was created in 1997 to back projects that help reconcile Czechs and Germans, easing suspicions and resentments dating back to the Nazi invasion, the Second World War and the expulsion of ethnic Germans in the subsequent years.

''We'll be seeking backing so that the fund is financed as required,'' said Steinmeier.

The fund supported projects promoting mutual understanding, including renovation of historical sites.

Czech concerns over Schengen delays

Vondra voiced strong concern that the European Union was planning to delay the accession of the Czech Republic to the Schengen area, a zone of the European Union where citizens can travel without border checks.

''We are not happy about it and we want an explanation,'' he said. ''Our people want open borders.''

He saw the justification coming from the EU -- that Schengen area cannot be extended on time because of technical reasons -- as unsatisfactory.

Vondra said the investments made by the Czech Republic in the SIS 2 computer system and the postponement of Schengen are not positive signs for EU citizens waiting for the border checks, according to Czech internet news site CeskeNoviny.cz.

Prague still backs EU

Vondra said the way Prague and Berlin currently handled their relationship might become a model for co-existence among others in Europe, adding: ''The new Czech government is a pro-European government.'' Prague backed ''openness'' in Europe.

Steinmeier said he wished German-Polish relations were similarly open and could be managed with ''risks of escalation,'' but at the moment there was friction.

Germany and the Czech Republic had based their relationship on a conviction that the evils of the past could not be forgotten, but that the past also ought not to be obstacle to the future, the German minister said.

Steinmeier said he would discuss the issue with Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

The European Commission has planned to extend the Schengen area by the end of 2007, but now the EC admits the preparations are not proceeding according to schedule. It says checks at inner borders of the new EU countries would not be cancelled before 2008.

Expulsion center attracts controversy

Czech newspaper the Prague Daily Monitor said Vondra voiced concerns over the proposed establishment of a "Center Against Expulsions," which the German Association of Expellees (BdV) reportedly want to set up in Berlin.

Some Czech and Polish politicians said they fear expellees might overly-emphasize the suffering of Germans deported from the Czech Republic and Poland after World War Two.

Vondra said he considered plans to establish the center unfortunate. However, he said in the Czech-German declaration from 1997 the two countries promised that they would not force one another into any interpretation of history.

Vondra was the main Czech negotiator about the declaration.