German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Jan. 26 visit to Prague ended without much progress in her bid to raise support for the European Union constitution. In meetings with both Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and President Václav Klaus, Merkel failed to win approval for the constitution. Both Topolánek and Klaus said the current document fails to protect national interests. Germany will hold the six-month rotating EU presidency until the end of June.

Four members of the Czech Army were nabbed in a drug raid at a Gripen fighter plane base in Čáslav, central Bohemia, Mladá fronta Dnes reported Jan. 30. So far two have been charged with possessing the materials to produce heroin, police said. If the soldiers, aged from 2022, are convicted, they will be expelled from the military, an official said. They were not pilots but worked as technical staff at the base. Police expect more charges in the investigation.

The wife of Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek was questioned by police Jan. 29 in connection with allegations of bribery levied against her husband. Čunek is accused of accepting a bribe of nearly 500,000 Kč ($23,000) in 2002 when he was mayor of the east Moravian town of Vsetín. Čunek produced documents on Czech Television Jan. 28 that he says prove his innocence.