Schroeder buries Czech hatchet

Schroeder (left) said the dispute should be laid to rest

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said that Berlin and Prague should put behind them a row over the post-war expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia.

Mr Schroeder was speaking on his first visit to Prague since the former Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman, branded the Sudeten Germans "Hitler's fifth column" in March 2002.

The remark prompted Mr Schroeder to cancel a planned visit to the Czech Republic.

The past shouldn't be suppressed but neither should it stand in the way of a positive future German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

Correspondents say relations between the two neighbours have improved markedly since then and that both countries are looking forward to becoming partners in the European Union.

The Czech Republic will join the EU next May, along with nine other countries from Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.

Berlin memorial controversy

"The Czech Republic and Germany have all the reasons to look forward and what sometimes led to misunderstandings... should be relegated to the past," Mr Schroeder said after meeting the Czech president and prime minister.

"The Czech Republic will soon be a member of the EU, and we have a responsibility to show young people the direction of the future," Mr Schroeder added.

If the package... is unpacked, then the question arises whether we can put the package back together Gerhard Schroeder on the draft EU constitution

During the retribution which followed World War II, about 12 million ethnic Germans were expelled from countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

About two-and-a-half-million were driven out of what was then Czechoslovakia, accused of having collaborated with the Nazis.

Their property was confiscated.

Associations representing the expelled want to build a memorial to them in the German capital.

The BBC's Alix Kroeger in Prague says the Czechs don't like the idea, and neither does Chancellor Schroeder.

Constitutional struggle

After talks with Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, Mr Schroeder said he was against tampering with the draft EU constitution that will be the subject of an intergovernmental conference beginning next month.

"If the package... is unpacked, then the question arises whether we can put the package back together," he said.

The Czech Government is one of a number smaller countries participating in the conference that want argue the draft gives too much power to the larger member states.

In particular, they are seeking to ensure that all EU members will have always have a voting representative on the European Commission, and that the presidency of the EU will continue to rotate.

"In some areas there are differences between us, but it is a question of negotiating... that is Europe's way", said Mr Spidla.