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06/08/2003
On Monday, university professors will go on strike in the town of Olomouc in northern Moravia for the first time since the fall of the Communist regime. Teachers at Palacky University's Philosophical Faculty will stop work for one hour in protest at what they call an "unsystematic approach to the education system's development". Numerous state universities are in debt, totalling some fifteen billion Czech crowns. The lack of money in the education sector has triggered numerous protests in the past few years. Since 1989, the number of students in universities has doubled while the money allocated out of the state budget has not increased accordingly.
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06/08/2003
Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has called a meeting with Health Minister Marie Souckova, to take place on Monday, in order to discuss the financial situation in the health sector. On Friday, the board of directors of the national health insurance company, Vseobecna Zdravotni Pojistovna, which covers some seventy percent of Czechs, said hospitals around the country will have to pay back money owed, totalling 836 million Czech crowns. This radical step is expected to leave the hospitals affected in serious financial trouble. In most cases, insurance coverage will not be paid for the next two months and hospitals will have to cut staff bonuses and hold off payments to suppliers.
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06/08/2003
Czech politicians should express their clear regret over the Benes decrees, Otto von Habsburg, the oldest son of the last Austrian emperor and former European Parliament member, said on Sunday. Speaking at the 54th Sudeten German meeting, which took place in Augsburg this weekend, he objected to the couple of paragraphs in the decrees, which sanctioned the expulsion of ethnic Germans and Hungarians from Czechoslovakia after World War II. However, Mr von Habsburg rejected calls to keep the Czech Republic from becoming an EU member, adding that he had always promoted EU enlargement during the 20-years he was an EP member. "I am interested in Czechs playing a role in the European Union and if possible, a positive one," he said.
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06/07/2003
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson has criticised European members of the alliance for failing to devote enough resources to defence spending. In a commentary to appear in the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday, Robertson said it was wrong for European nations in NATO to accuse the United States of taking unilateral action if they are unable to improve their military capabilities. Despite there being a lot of talk about modernising, governments are buttoned up when it comes time to pay, he said. As a result, the trans-Atlantic capabilities gap is growing larger and larger. One such example is that the United States has over 200 strategic transport aircraft, while Europe has four. The Czech Republic has been a NATO member since March 12 1999. A new government plan to decrease the state budget deficit has significantly reduced the defence ministry's budget, leading to the resignation of Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik.
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06/07/2003
The opposition Civic Democrats' shadow foreign minister Jan Zahradil has criticised the Czech government's EU accession campaign. In a Czech TV discussion programme on Saturday, he said the ongoing campaign lacks objectivity and leaves citizens misinformed. However, according to Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, who was also a guest in the programme, the campaign hides nothing from Czech citizens. He added that all open queries on EU membership are furthermore attended to by the ministry; in May alone, it replied to 40,000 telephone calls and one million e-mails.
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06/07/2003
A small group of some twenty people gathered at Prague's Old Town Square on Saturday to protest against the Czech Republic's accession to the EU. Representatives of the Citizens' Against the EU Association urged Czechs to vote "no" in the upcoming referendum, saying EU membership would threaten the Czech Republic's independence, as it would be greatly influenced by international organisations, and affected by more corruption and organised crime. The Czech Republic goes to the polls on Friday in a two-day referendum on joining the European Union. Unlike in neighbouring Poland or Slovakia, the result of the EU referendum in the Czech Republic will be binding. Should Czechs say "no" to EU membership, the country will have to wait two years before a new referendum can be held.
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06/06/2003
Czech and Slovak soldiers should work together more frequently, Czech President Vaclav Klaus and his Slovak counterpart Rudolf Schuster said on Friday. The two presidents agreed on closer co-operation in the military during a ceremony in Prague honouring members of the joint Czech-Slovak anti-chemical unit, which recently returned from its mission in Kuwait. However, the heads of state are yet to decide in what form this increased co-operation should to be.
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06/05/2003
EU commissioner for expansion Gunter Verheugen on Thursday began his two day visit to the Czech Republic by sampling a cold beer in the west Bohemian city of Pilsen, taking a tram ride and going on a walkabout. I was looking forward to visiting the city whose beer has made this country famous around the world, Mr. Verheugen told the crowd of reporters dogging his footsteps. On Thursday evening the EU commissioner is to meet with President Vaclav Klaus at Prague Castle.
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06/04/2003
Around 200 farmers have demonstrated outside the government offices in Prague in support of a proposal put forward by Agriculture Minister Jaroslav Palas. The proposal involves asking for more direct payments from the European Union, and a temporary grant of around 100 million dollars to resolve problems in the agriculture sector.
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06/04/2003
The pro-EU Yes for Europe group is considering whether to go ahead with a planned concert in the centre of Prague, in the wake of a decision by the city council banning the group from holding the event in the Old Town Square. The council has told the group they can hold the concert - to be opened by former President Vaclav Havel - on Wenceslas Square instead, but the group say this may not be possible. The council - which is controlled by the opposition Civic Democrats - banned the concert for noise reasons. The Civic Democrats have held several rock concerts in the Old Town Square in recent years.
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