Prague  - Caretaker Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Saturday indirectly turned down an offer by two major Czech political parties to become the Czech Republic's nominee for the European Commission.

The premier confirmed that the two largest parties, Mirek Topolanek's centre-right Civic Democrats and the rival Social Democrats of Jiri Paroubek, offered him the post in the European Union's executive.

Fischer, a statistician, said that he was in politics only temporarily and planned to return to his field after a general election in spring 2010.

Prague - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer announced Monday that his caretaker government has decided to reject a lone bid for the country's red-ink carrier, Czech Airlines.

The cabinet opted to rescue the troubled carrier by safeguarding its cash flow and through severe cost cuts before putting the state's 91.5-per-cent share up for sale, Fischer said at a joint press conference with Finance Minister Eduard Janota.

Prague  - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said Monday that an exemption from a part of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, demanded by President Vaclav Klaus as a condition for his approval, should also work for Slovakia.

As a condition for his signature, the Czech president wants the Czech Republic to get an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, a part of the treaty, to prevent potential property claims by former Czechoslovakia's ethnic Germans expelled after World War II.

Prague  - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said his Brussels meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has been postponed until Tuesday.

An aircraft problem Wednesday forced Fischer to stay in Prague and communicate by video link with European Union officials about Czech ratification of the bloc's reform Lisbon Treaty.

On Tuesday, Barroso and Fischer are set to debate bilateral issues, including what portfolio the Czech Republic could get in the next European Commission, the premier said.  dpa