• 02/20/2024

    Around three-fifths of economically active Ukrainian refugees in Czechia are working in jobs below their qualification level, the government’s commissioner for human rights, Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, said at a press conference on Tuesday. She spoke of the need to improve Czech language education for refugees and to make the process of getting Ukrainian qualifications recognised easier.

    Currently, more than 380,000 refugees from Ukraine have temporary protection in Czechia. The commissioner estimated that around 120,000 of these are economically active, with 61 percent working in jobs they are overqualified for.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/20/2024

    Had elections taken place in January, Andrej Babiš's ANO party would have won with 31.5 percent of the vote, according to the latest Median poll. The Pirate Party would have come in second with 13 percent, narrowly beating Prime Minister Petr Fiala's Civic Democrats (ODS) party at 12 percent.

    Six political parties would have received enough votes to reach the minimum 5 percent threshold required to gain seats in parliament; other than the top three parties already mentioned these would have been Tomio Okamura's SPD party with 10.5 percent, the Mayors and Independents with 7 percent, and government coalition partners TOP 09 with 5.5 percent.

    According to Median's analysis, the Pirates overtaking ODS to come in second is probably due to their popularity among first-time voters in combination with an overall lower voter turnout, which mainly negatively impacts the Together coalition of ODS, the Christian Democrats and TOP 09.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/20/2024

    The European Commission (EC) has preliminarily approved Czechia's second payment request for 702 million euros from the National Recovery Plan, aimed at mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic and the economic crisis, the EC said in a press release. The funding is to be spent on building high-capacity internet networks, reforestation, railways, digitisation, and oncology, among other things. Three EC advisory committees still have to assess the request before the money can be paid out, which is expected to happen in early April.

    Czechia can draw money from the National Recovery Plan in nine payments. The EC approved the first payment in February last year.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/19/2024

    A portion of the protesting farmers left Monday's demonstration early, with Novinky.cz estimating that around 230 farmers had taken their tractors from Prague's main thoroughfare, where they had been intentionally slowing down traffic in protest at worsening conditions for farmers, and set off home. The protest coordinator for Ústí nad Labem and Litoměřice, Miloš Malý, told Czech Television that they were leaving because they felt the protest had been "stolen" by people chanting anti-government slogans and swearing, while they had wanted a peaceful protest.

    The remaining several hundred farmers went to Prague's Malostranská Square around 1 pm for a planned demonstration starting at 3 pm. Some tried to attack a group of counter-protestors carrying Ukrainian and EU flags but the two groups were separated by riot police.

    Prime Minister Petr Fiala wrote on social media site X that the protest had little to do with the fight for improved conditions for farmers and that it had been organised "by people who do not hide their support for the Kremlin". He emphasised that the main agricultural organisations, i.e. the Agrarian Chamber, the Agricultural Union and the Association of Private Agriculture, had all distanced themselves from the protest.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/19/2024

    Tuesday is predicted to be overcast with a chance of rain throughout the day and some wind in the late morning and afternoon. Temperatures should range between 5 and 9 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/19/2024

    Czechia supports imposing further sanctions against Russia in response to the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said in Brussels on Monday while attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers. He added that all signs pointed to Navalny's death being a politically motivated murder and Putin having blood on his hands again.

    Navalny's wife, Yulia, was also in Brussels on Monday at the invitation of the EU to attend the meeting, which Mr. Lipavský called "a great expression of symbolic support and recognition". Navalny's death was announced by Russian authorities on Friday.

    The EU is currently finalising its thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia. Although it has not made it into the thirteenth sanctions package, Czechia hopes that its proposal to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats in the Schengen area could be included in one of the later packages.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/19/2024

    EU foreign ministers, including Czechia's Jan Lipavský, approved the launch of an EU military naval mission in the Red Sea at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, with the aim of helping to secure maritime trade routes currently being attacked by Yemeni rebels. The strategic command of the Aspides mission will be based in Greece, but operations will be controlled from an Italian frigate. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský previously stated that Czechia has no ships to send on the mission but could potentially send people to work in certain staff roles.

    The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been attacking international cargo ships linked to Israel and the West since November, in response to Israel's war on the Gaza Strip and these countries' support of the Israeli government. American and British military forces have been conducting joint air strikes against them since January with occasional help from individual EU member states.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/19/2024

    Charles University's Faculty of Arts building on Prague's Jan Palach Square, which has remained closed since the tragic shooting incident in December where a lone gunman killed 14 others and then himself, opened its doors for class again on Monday as the summer semester began. Only the fourth floor of the building, where the shooting took place, will remain closed. Some lessons will therefore be taking place in alternative rooms in other university buildings.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/19/2024

    Hundreds of Czech farmers arrived in tractors early on Monday morning to protest outside the Ministry of Agriculture in Prague against rising costs, heavy regulation, cheap goods from Ukraine and the EU's Green Deal. The protest partially blocked traffic on Prague's main thoroughfare, the "magistrála", but no major traffic jams were caused.

    The protesting farmers handed over a letter to Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný shortly before noon with a list of their demands, which include Czechia withdrawing from the Green Deal. Mr. Výborný has said he will read the letter but that he does not intend to hold talks with the protest organisers, as they are pursuing their own political goals rather than truly representing the interests of Czech farmers. Other large agricultural organisations have distanced themselves from the protest.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 02/19/2024

    Czech hockey legend Jaromir Jagr's No. 68 jersey was officially retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins at a special ceremony at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. The iconic Czech hockey star and many of his former teammates attended the ceremony, including Hall of Famers Ron Francis, Scotty Bowman, and Mario Lemieux.

    Jagr joined the Penguins in 1990 and became the first player in franchise history to wear No. 68. In  his 11 seasons with the Penguins, Jagr won the Stanley Cup twice in his first two seasons and recorded a total of 439 goals and 640 assists for 1,079 total points.

Pages