Prague - As the Czech Republic takes over at the helm of the European Union on Thursday, the country's diplomats already face a big test - The EU response to Israeli air-strikes on the Gaza Strip.

Prague, a proponent of deeper EU ties with Israel, still hopes to stage the first top-level meeting between the EU and Israel in the final days of its presidency ending on June 30, officials said.

But instead of paving way for an upgrade in EU-Israeli relations, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is likely to lead an EU delegation to deal with the latest Middle East conflict as soon as Sunday.

In addition, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's government assumes the EU's six-month rotating presidency amid concerns whether it is capable of leading the 27-member bloc.

"You need guidance. You need political leadership," said Sebastian Kurpas, a research fellow with the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies.

"The French maybe had too much of it. There is a concern that this political leadership might be lacking in Prague."

Topolanek's center-right three-party government is frail at home and eclipsed abroad by the provocative statements of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, an outspoken EU critic and global warming doubter.

Klaus is at odds with Topolanek's government on a number of fronts that will matter in the next half year.

He opposes the EU's reform Lisbon Treaty, stalled since Irish voters rejected it in a June referendum.

Although the Czech Republic is the last member state yet to vote on the pact, the Czech government wants the EU to overcome "the institutional limbo", Vice-Premier for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra said.

Vondra said he expects the Czech parliament to vote on the charter in February. "The ratification continues and I believe it will be successfully completed on time," he said.

The Czech Republic will lead the EU in the run-up to a key United Nations climate change conference in Denmark next year. The meeting's purpose is to strike a global deal on reducing emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases as of 2012.

The Czech president insists that global warming is not man-made and that costly policies to curb it amount to a pointless waste.

The president's role will be limited during the presidency, reflecting his largely ceremonial office at home. He is due to speak to the European Parliament in February and may play host some Prague meetings, Vondra said.

But Klaus - also known for refusing to hang an EU flag at his official residence, the Prague Castle - stole the media attention from the government in the run-up to its EU presidency.

Unable to tame him, Topolanek's ministers have been left with repeating that the premier, not the president, will run the union until July.

The cabinet now hopes that Klaus would stop stealing the show from the government during its time in the EU chair.

"Media jump on it and make it a big story," Kurpas said of Klaus appearances. "Suddenly it does not matter any more how Czechs organize their Council meetings."

Aside from the Klaus humbug, Prague is mostly bracing for what Kurpas called "a transition presidency". Voters will elect a new European Parliament in June and the European Commission's term ends in October.

The Czechs - no fans of regulation or unruly public finances - are to inherit from France a daunting task of coordinating the way out from the global economic crisis.

"Stimuli packages are important but they must be short-term, targeted, focused," Vondra said.

He said that Prague would not mind spending such incentives on improving the continent's power grids. The Czechs would also appreciate "something substantial" this spring on plans for pipelines that would decrease Europe's dependency on Russian gas and oil.

In foreign policy, Europe will forge ties with Barack Obama's US administration and Czechs hope to lure the new president to Prague in April. Prague is also to host a late spring summit aimed at bringing the bloc's eastern neighbours closer to the EU.

The country's leaders, who have engaged in a biting exchange with Russia over US plans to place a missile shield base on Czech soil, will also moderate EU talks with Moscow - another matter of concern.

In response to the accusations, then, that Prague somehow lacks the political leadership to deal with these issues, Vondra dismissed such fears:

"We will do this in a professional manner. If there is somebody who should be afraid that's me ... I am risking my political career." (dpa)