News

The Czech prime minister-designate, Jan Fischer, has wrapped up a series of meetings with candidates for ministerial posts in the country’s planned caretaker government. The technocratic government, agreed upon by the two main parties in Parliament - the Civic Democrats and Social Democrats, together with the Greens – will lead the country until October, when the country will see early elections. After meeting with the candidates, the prime minister-designate met on Friday with President Václav Klaus, to inform him of developments. The president has confirmed he will name the new government to office on May 8.

The Czech European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimír Špidla has said the current recession is increasing the social exclusion of Romanies throughout the European Union. He made the statement at an EU Presidency meeting focussing on Romany integration on Friday. According to the commissioner, constructive measures to allow new opportunities were needed, stressing the new measures on education, housing, and employment needed to be tailored specifically to the Roma community. The newly-established platform is to focus on the issue of integration; this year, the EU set aside five million euros for the pilot project.

A controversial art show at a Prague gallery – depicting Nazis wearing the Star of David instead of swastikas – was shut down on Thursday within half an hour of opening, following protests by Jewish leaders. The exhibition, by a Polish artist, featured a giant poster and eight large-format photos. Frantíšek Banyai, the head of the Jewish community in Prague, charged the images were strongly anti-Semitic in character. The artist, operating under an assumed name, reportedly wanted to protest Israel’s role in the Palestinian conflict. The controversy has come at a time the Czech Republic has seen renewed debate over right-wing extremism.

President Václav Klaus has decided to revoke the prison sentence of a Romany man whose child is fighting for her life after an arson attack on their home in Vítkov, north Moravia last weekend. A spokesperson said the decision would remain in place until the president determines whether to issue a pardon to the man, who is 33. He had been found guilty of theft, damage to property and driving without a licence, but did not turn up to begin serving a jail term in December. The authorities caught up with him after a petrol bomb attack on his house that left his two-year-old daughter with burns on 80 percent of her body. The man and his wife are also receiving treatment in hospital for the burns they suffered as a consequence of the fire-bombing, which is still under investigation.