A Czech artist known for his anti-communist stance has floated a huge statue of a hand making an obscene gesture on Prague’s main river, days before parliamentary elections that could give the communists a taste of power almost a quarter-century after they were ousted.

THE Czechs launched their controversial artwork in the EU’s headquarters yesterday, saying freedom of expression was the foundation of democracy — and promptly apologised for the work.

THE Czech prime minister got a tongue-lashing from members of the European Parliament yesterday when he told them the Lisbon treaty was worse than the Nice treaty and would not pass in his country.

IRELAND has been portrayed as a furry brown set of bagpipes, Bulgaria as a Turkish squat toilet, Belgium as a box of chocolates and Luxembourg as a gold bar.

A sculpture of a tied-up Saddam Hussein floating in a water tank was banned by the mayor of a western Belgian town because it was deemed too controversial.