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04/16/2014
The European Commission announced on Wednesday it would continue its proceedings against the Czech Republic, along with Poland and Latvia, over the countries’ restrictions of EU nationals’ political rights. Under Czech law, citizens of other EU member states are not allowed to join a political party or form their own, and are at a disadvantage to local citizens when exercising their right to stand as candidates in local and European elections. That is contrary to EU law and goes against the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality, according to the European Commission. The Czech Republic and the other two countries now have two months to address the issue or face proceedings at the EU Court of Justice.
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04/16/2014
The average mortgage interest rate dropped to a historic low of 2.93 percent in January, according to an index compiled by the Fincentrum advisory firm. It is the lowest average rate since 2003 when monitoring began. In March, nearly 8,300 clients took out new mortgages, which was around 2,500 more than in the previous month. The overall volume of new mortgages grew last month to 13.8 billion crowns, some 4.3 billion more than in February. The decrease in rates has been fueled by competition among banks, and could continue for months to come, an analyst for the Fincentrum firm said.
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04/16/2014
A Czech man found suffering from amnesia in Norway says he is afraid he could be attacked in the Czech Republic in relation to unclear events in his past and wishes to start a new life elsewhere as soon as he has acquired new documents. The man, who is 36 and calls himself John Smith, claimed in an interview for the Norwegian station TV2 that he was involved in a financial crime investigation for four years but was evidently afraid to hand in a report on the matter and left the country. He was discovered in a snow drift in Oslo in December and identified last week after Norwegian police released his picture. They suspect he was the victim of a crime and are conducting an investigation.
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04/16/2014
As part of their campaign ahead of next month’s European Parliament elections, TOP 09 and the linked Mayors group will gather signatures on a petition calling on the European Commission to pass legislation against excessive concentration of media ownership, Eurozpravy.cz reported. TOP 09 MP Stanislav Polčák said they also want the European Commission to address the question of media owners who are simultaneously in public office. The move seems targeted against billionaire ANO chief Andrej Babiš, who is minister of finance and owns the company behind two of the Czech Republic’s leading newspapers as well as the country’s most listened to radio station.
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04/15/2014
A railroad freight station in Prague’s district Žižkov will be transformed into a cultural hub in the future, the minister of culture, Daniel Herman, said on Tuesday after signing a memorandum on cooperation with the city’s authorities. The freight yard, a protected site, is set to house the National Film Archive, while the Museum of Decorative Arts and the National Technical Museum should have exhibition spaces in a functionalist building on the site. However, no agreement has been reached over who will fund the large renovation project.
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04/15/2014
The Czech president, Miloš Zeman, says Ukraine needs a strong leader but not one of the gangsters who has ruled the country in recent years, even with an angelic smile and beautiful braids; this was evidently a reference to former PM and presidential candidate Yulia Timoshenko. Speaking on a visit to the University of Hradec Králové on Tuesday, Mr. Zeman also said it was not possible to provide financial aid to Ukraine as it would end up in the pockets of oligarchs. In response to a question from a student, he said any armed person entering a government building was a criminal, whether at Kiev’s Majdan or in Donetsk.
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04/15/2014
The Ministry of Finance has to pay the Czech Syndicate of Journalists CZK 292 million as compensation for a new building the state failed to provide for the organisation. The Prague City Court on Tuesday upheld a ruling to that effect made a year ago by a district court. The ministry’s only avenue of appeal is to the Supreme Court. The dispute dates back to 1967 when the Czechoslovak Syndicate of Journalists transferred two buildings on Prague’s Wenceslas Sq. to the state; the site was used to build the Federal Assembly, while the state committed to providing a replacement building by Jirásek Bridge. It failed to do so and the second site is now home to The Dancing Building.
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04/15/2014
The recently installed minister of labour and social affairs, Michaela Marksová Tominová, says her ministry has in recent years wasted a billion crowns through the poor management of information technology. Presenting an audit to the media on Tuesday, she said the majority of IT systems at her ministry operated without a contract and that some services were duplicated or even triplicated. Minister Marksová Tominová described the situation as “huge chaos”. Complaints have been filed against two unknown perpetrators over threatening operations and cyber security and fraud.
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04/15/2014
The Czech president, Miloš Zeman, is to join his counterparts from Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary at ceremonies in all five countries later this year marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism in the states. Mr. Zeman’s foreign affairs spokesman confirmed his participation to the Czech News Agency. While the events in the Visegrad Four countries will take place in their capitals, the German memorial will take place in Leipzig, a city that saw mass demonstrations against the then East German regime in 1989. The Czech Republic will mark the 25th anniversary on November 17, the day that the Velvet Revolution got underway. Details about the event have not been revealed.
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04/15/2014
Detectives from the police’s organised crime unit raided Czech Post headquarters on Prague’s Politických vězňů and Olšanská streets on Tuesday. Officers arrived at the postal service’s buildings at 6 AM. The state attorney said the raids were linked to an investigation launched in January concerning the manipulation of building contracts; it has now been extended to include a transport contract. A total of 15 people have been charged to date, while four companies are under investigation, including Czech Post. The two post offices have remained open to the public.
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