News

A census of waterfowl in the Czech Republic carried out in January has shown a decrease the number of swans and White-Tailed Eagles, and a rise in the number of cormorants. Ornithologists say that the changes are part of a trend of several years, whereby swans have been pushed out by competing wild geese and, like the White-Tailed Eagle – the largest bird of prey in the Czech Republic – have taken to wintering farther south due to colder winters and icier ponds in the country. Cormorants however have benefited greatly from protected status and currently number roughly nine thousand. The birds have caused considerable damage to the Czech fishing industry by consuming an estimated half-tonne of fish a day.

Tomáš Paprstka has won the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, which was held at the weekend in the South Bohemian town of Tábor. The Czech Republic’s Matěj Lasák also finished fourth place. Paprstka set the pace for most of the second half of the race, however ended neck and neck at the finish line with Frenchman Julian Alaphilipp. The last victory for a Czech in the world juniors’ championship was that of Martin Bína nine years ago, when the event was also held in Tábor.

European Union President Herman Van Rompuy is on his first official visit to Prague. On Friday morning the EU president met with the Czech prime minister, Jan Fischer, for talks that focused on the economy, climate change and the EU’s humanitarian effort in Haiti. In the afternoon Mr. Rompuy met with President Václav Klaus, a well known opponent of EU integration and the Lisbon Treaty. The two officials said little about the content of their talks, though President Klaus told journalists the meeting had done nothing to change his view of the European Union.

Only last week Mr. Klaus criticized the new working structure of the European saying that there was no clear delimitation of powers and responsibilities. Mr. Herman Van Rompuy took up the post of EU President on January 1 and has since conducted a tour of EU member states.

Fresh snowfall overnight has caused more traffic complications around the country. Czech Railways announced on Friday morning that ten of its regional tracks were impassable and had to be closed down. A number of mountain villages have been cut off from the outside world and a number of buses on inter-city bus routes ended up stuck in snow drifts. Traffic police report that many of the smaller roads remain impassable, since maintenance crews have their hands full clearing the country’s main highways. Drivers have been warned to exercise extreme caution and not set out for the mountains without chains and shovels. Fresh snow is expected in the coming days.