News

A new channel named Retro Music Television began broadcasting in the Czech Republic on Tuesday. The first video on the station, which plays both Czech and foreign hits from the 1960s to the 1990s, was for Depeše by Marta Kubišová. Retro Music Television, which will be on air 24 hours a day, was set up by a group of people who were involved in the establishment of the Óčko music station. It promises themed programmes dedicated to genres like soul and hits from films.

Slavia Prague football club have parted company with manager Karel Jarolím after a string of poor results. Jarolím was at Slavia for five years and oversaw one of the most successful periods in their modern history, when they opened a new stadium, won the Czech league two years running and reached the Champions League for the first time. However, this season Slavia have failed to challenge for the title and currently lie in eighth place. The club’s management first threatened to sack Jarolím before later offering to keep him on for the rest of the season; in the end the coach himself decided to quit. He has been replaced by František Cipro.

The Czech prime minister, Jan Fischer, has condemned Monday’s attacks in Moscow’s metro. In a letter of condolence to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, Mr Fischer said the two suicide bomb attacks were “a deplorable act of hate”. The Czech prime minister noted that the government of the Czech Republic, its citizens as well as himself personally condemn all terrorist acts as unacceptable.

The Czech embassy in Moscow said no Czech citizens were among the victims of the attacks that killed at least 37 people at two metro stations in the Russian capital on Monday morning. The Czech chargé d’affaires in Moscow said they were checking all available lists of Czech nationals in Moscow, but no Czech victim had been reported.

The European Commission is for now not going to ask EU member states to impose visas on EU-bound Canadian diplomats in a bid to make Ottawa drop visas for Czech citizens, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Celicia Malmström said on Monday.

The news comes as a disappointment for Czech officials who were hoping that a summit of EU interior ministers would deal with the issue, and eventually recommend EU member states to pressure Canada into dropping the visa requirement for Czechs. Canada re-introduced visas for Czech citizens last year over increasing numbers of Czechs who sought asylum in that country. Earlier this month, a group of experts from the European Commission, Canada and the Czech Republic met in Prague to discuss the situation; Canadian officials said that Ottawa will consider lifting the visa requirement for Czechs only after streamlining its immigration system which might take years.