News

The Višegrad Group states are urging the United States to boost natural gas exports to Europe as a hedge against the possibility that Russia could cut off its supply of gas to Ukraine. Ambassadors from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland made the appeal in a letter to the US Congress. The letter asks for Congress to support speedier approval of natural gas exports, noting that the "presence of U.S. natural gas would be much welcome in Central and Eastern Europe." The ambassadors warn that the unrest in Ukraine has brought back Cold War memories and that energy security threatens the region's residents on a daily basis.

The Usti region in north Bohemia has reported an outbreak of measles. Over 70 people are said to have contracted the disease in the last few weeks. The infection is reported to have spread by a Czech tourist who contracted the disease while on holiday in India and on his return unwittingly exposed dozens of people. The regional hospital has ordered vaccines for its entire staff after two dozen of its doctors and nurses contracted the disease.

A decision of whether to lift the government-imposed limits on coal mining in north Bohemia should be made by the end of 2015, according to Industry and Trade Minister Jan Mládek. The minister said he himself would be in favour of holding a referendum on the matter ahead of a government decision by said this would have to be approved by all parties of the coalition government. Environmental activists have welcomed the fact that the government is not taking a decision on the matter immediately and is ready to consider the views of the locals. The mining limits were imposed in the early 1990s to protect villages in the north from industrial expansion and have frequently come under attack from politicians and industry leaders who argue that at a time of growing unemployment jobs should be a top priority.

Czech MEP Jan Zahradil has called for the European Union to take a firmer approach to Russia over its military incursion into the Ukrainian province of Crimea. Russia must face international sanctions over its actions, Mr. Zahradil, who heads the European Conservatives and Reformers group at the European Parliament, told the Czech News Agency on Friday. He said he disagreed with his former Civic Democrat party colleague Václav Klaus, who said that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had acted rationally in the current crisis in Ukraine. However, Mr. Zahradil said he shared Mr. Klaus's fears that the EU could "abuse" the situation.