• Defence minister expects close military cooperation with Slovakia
    10/05/2002

    The Czech Republic and Slovakia will closely cooperate in the defence area. Czech Minister of Defence Jaroslav Tvrdik said that after Slovakia joins NATO, military cooperation between the two former federal partners will be elevated to a completely different level. He cited joint air defence as one of the main areas of cooperation but said that possibilities were virtually unlimited. Slovakia is likely to be invited to join NATO at the alliance’s summit due to take place in Prague in November. Mr. Tvrdik visited Slovakia on Saturday to attend a solemn ceremony to commemorate the victims of World War Two battle of Dukla on the Slovak-Polish border.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • One third of pressure seals remained open in metro during floods
    10/05/2002

    The Czech police, who are investigating why the Prague’s subway system was flooded during the August floods, discovered serious shortcoming in protective measures and construction. The police said that only two thirds of the pressure gates supposed to seal off the subway system were actually closed when the water arrived. Water also leaked through insufficiently sealed cable openings. In addition, it has come out that at several places, construction works were done in variance with the project so that the tunnels, designed to withstand a nuclear attack, broke under the pressure of thousands of tonnes of water. In all five cases, the faulty parts were constructed by the same company which may now face criminal prosecution.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • Civic Democrats support media tycoon's senate candidacy
    10/05/2002

    The Civic Democratic Party of Vaclav Klaus has openly supported the head of the commercial TV station NOVA, Vladimir Zelezny in his candidacy in the upcoming senate elections. For several years, TV NOVA has been giving more space to the Civic Democrats in its talk-shows than to other parties; the party in turn supported Mr. Zelezny in his disputes with business partners.

    Zelezny, who is 57, launched the successful TV station in 1994. His breaking from an American investor triggered a series of arbitration proceedings against the Czech Republic for failing to protect foreign investment. Zelezny himself has been charged with an attempt to cheat a creditor and with tax evasion.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • Social Democrats put forward four names for presidential candidate
    10/04/2002

    The ruling Social Democrats are planning to present the electorate with a list of four names from which to choose the party's candidate for president, Health Minister Marie Souckova said on Friday. They are former prime minister Milos Zeman, ombudsman Otakar Motejl, former justice minister Jaroslav Bures and Charles University professor Martin Potucek. It is believed that the Social Democrats decided to allow the public to pick their presidential candidate because elements within the party feared that the outspoken Mr Zeman might win an internal party vote. The public vote will take place on October 22 and 25. The term of the current president, Vaclav Havel, ends in January, and his successor will be chosen by both houses of parliament.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • It's official - Civic Democrats support Zelezny in Senate election
    10/04/2002

    The opposition Civic Democratic Party have officially announced their support for independent Senate candidate Vladimir Zelezny, a television tycoon who controls the Czech Republic's most popular commercial station, Nova. The chairman of the Civic Democrats branch in Znojmo, the constituency where Mr Zelezny is running, said the party did not know of a better candidate, adding that it did not matter that the TV magnate was not from the region.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Deputy police chief could be dismissed over alleged drink driving
    10/04/2002

    The deputy president of the Czech police Miroslav Antl could be dismissed if it is proved that he had been drinking before a traffic accident in the east Bohemian town of Pardubice on Thursday. A source told the CTK news agency that a breathalyser test proves that Mr Antl was over the limit when the crash occurred, though a police spokesperson said that the incident was still under investigation.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Spidla - Czech military doctors to leave Afghanistan by end of 2002
    10/03/2002

    The Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, who's on a one-day visit to Afghanistan, has told the command of the International Security Assistance Force that a substantial number of Czech military medical personnel stationed in Kabul will leave Afghanistan by the end of the year. Although the work of the Czech military field hospital is highly appreciated by local citizens, Prime Minister Spidla said the Czech Republic could not afford its further operation. Mr Spidla also said that at the beginning of next year a Czech special operations unit would arrive in Afghanistan, if approved by the Czech Parliament.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Spidla and Tvrdik discuss Czech-Afghan cooperation in Kabul
    10/03/2002

    Accompanied on his one day visit to Afghanistan by Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik, the Czech Prime Minister also spoke to the Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Defence Minister Mohammad Fahim about possible Czech-Afghan economic and military cooperation.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • State of alert prolonged in flood-damaged areas, government to confirm
    10/02/2002

    Twenty-two municipalities in the Melnik region north of Prague are aiming to prolong a state of alert to help in the continuing clean-up of damages caused by August's catastrophic floods. The state of alert should remain in place until the third week of October. Clean-up crews are still trying to remove damaged material from post-flood areas, but new damages were recently discovered on some structures, and some areas remain dangerous for inhabitants and livestock. The issued state of alert grants local officials wider authority, including the right to call up those doing national service for the clean-up effort. Before taking effect, the state of alert must still be confirmed by the Czech government.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Prague welcomes Benes decrees report
    10/01/2002

    The Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda has welcomed the outcome of an EU-commissioned report according to which the controversial Benes decrees, which sanctioned the expulsion of 2.5 million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after WWII, do not pose an obstacle to Prague's bid to join the European Union. The European Parliament commissioned the study after Austrian and German politicians demanded that Prague revoke the Benes decrees since they were incompatible with EU laws. Speaking to journalists in Brussels, the Czech Foreign Minister said he hoped that this clear legal stand would remove all lingering doubts and prevent further disputes on the matter.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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