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09/16/2010
In anther attempt to get prostitution in the capital under control, Prague City Hall approved on Thursday a bill that would legalize prostitution in the Czech Republic. The city will now send the bill to the lower house; if approved by both chambers of the Parliament, the bill would require prostitutes to apply for permits, pay taxes and social insurance, and undergo regular check-ups.
There are some 70 brothels in the Czech capital, with an estimated several thousand women working in them. The Czech Republic does not recognize prostitution but does not explicitly ban it either. The approval of the bill on prostitution would however require other changes to the legislation; most importantly, the country would have to quit a 1950’s convention on human trafficking.
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09/16/2010
Two third of Czechs support planned cuts in the salaries of state employees, according to a new poll by the STEM agency released on Thursday. The poll was commissioned by the Public Affairs party, which is part of the centre-right coalition government. While most Czechs agree with cuts in the salaries of army officers and employees of the justice and administration sectors, they opposed lowering the wages of teachers and health care workers. A majority of those polled also preferred layoffs to cutting salaries.
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09/16/2010
Police accused on Thursday two men of procurement fraud related to the 2009 World Nordic Ski Championships in Liberec. One of the accused is a former rector of Liberec’s Technical University. Both men allegedly hired a company without a public tender to renovate the university’s dormitories. A police spokesman said that based on their previous experience, the men must have realized they breached the law. The 12-day event, held in the northern city of Liberec in February and March 2009, ended with debts of 106 million crowns.
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09/16/2010
Thursday’s draw for the tennis Davis Cup semifinales determined that Radek Štepánek will face Novak Djokovič of Serbia in the first single in Belgrade on Friday; Czech tennis number one Tomáš Berdych will then play Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevič. Czech Davis Cup team captain Jaroslav Navrátil said it was not important who will play who but that he hoped that come Sunday the Czechs would have three points. Bookmakers however favour the Serbs, with around 1.4 to 1 odds in the hosts’ favour.
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09/16/2010
The Czech title holders Sparta Prague will face Italy’s Palermo in the first game of Europa League’s Group F in the Czech capital on Thursday. Sparta, which only won 1:0 in the latest round of the top Czech division on Saturday, will miss three key players in the midfield due to red and yellow cards. In the UEFA Cup three years ago, the Italians were knocked out by another Czech club, Mladá Boleslav.
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09/15/2010
The Czech government has rejected an opposition call for a parliamentary investigation into alleged corruption linked to purchases by the Ministry of Defence. A Czech newspaper this week reported that a former head of Nato had warned Czech officials that the country risked tarnishing its reputation over the background to the purchase of armoured personnel carriers, while the police are currently investigating a former deputy defence minister over alleged bribe-taking linked to a contract for mortars. MP Petr Gadzík of coalition party TOP 09 told reporters that the opposition Social Democrats’ call for an investigation was motivated by upcoming Senate and local elections.
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09/15/2010
Petr Nečas is beginning his first visit to Brussels since being appointed Czech prime minister at the end of June. On Wednesday evening Mr Nečas will hold talks with the president of the European Commission, Jose Barroso, and the commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn. During a three-day visit to Brussels, the Czech prime minister will also take part in a European Union summit and meet the secretary general of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
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09/15/2010
Prime Minister Nečas says he plans to raise the question of Canada’s visa requirement for Czech citizens at Thursday’s EU meeting, which will also be attended by the bloc’s foreign ministers. Mr Nečas told reporters on Wednesday that Prague regarded the matter as one of European solidarity. The Canadian government introduced visas for Czechs in July 2009 following an increase in the number of asylum applications from Czech Romanies. The European Commission floated the idea of imposing a visa requirement on Canadian diplomats, but as yet has not done so.
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09/15/2010
The Czech government has approved a draft law that would reduce subsidies for new solar energy power plants, in an attempt to reign in the booming sector. Generous feed-in tariffs helped make the Czech Republic Europe’s third largest solar market in terms of new capacity last year. Many fear the boom could lead to a marked rise in energy prices in 2011, which could hurt competitiveness. Under the new legislation, high fixed tariffs would not apply to new solar plants built on land – only those on the roofs of buildings.
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09/15/2010
Michael Kocáb has been dismissed as government commissioner for human rights. Mr Kocáb had already tendered his resignation, but said he planned to stay on as human rights commissioner until a successor was installed. Prime Minister Petr Nečas announced on Wednesday that the cabinet had voted to remove him with immediate effect, saying a number of names were in contention for the post.
In the early 1990s Mr Kocáb, then best known as a rock musician, became an MP and oversaw the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia. In more recent times he served as minister for human rights in a caretaker Czech government.
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