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04/23/2009
David Černý has said he will remove his sculpture Entropa from an EU building in Brussels early, in protest at the fall of the Czech government. The controversial work, which plays with European stereotypes, was erected as part of the Czech presidency of the EU. However, the artist said he would take the sculpture down by May 10, when a caretaker Czech government should be appointed over a month and a half before the presidency comes to an end. Mr Černý said the move was in protest at what he described as the “disgrace” President Klaus, the Social Democrats and the Communists had caused to the Czech people with the fall of the government. The two parties joined forces against the cabinet in a vote of no-confidence, while critics of Mr Klaus suggest he helped orchestrate the government’s fall.
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04/23/2009
Some 653 Czech citizens applied for asylum in Canada in the first three months of this year, the Canadian embassy in Prague said on Thursday. That figure is over two thirds the number for the whole of 2008. Nearly three dozen applicants were granted asylum between the start of January and the end of March. Earlier this week, Ottawa asked the Czech government to take steps against what it called unscrupulous mediators who help facilitate the emigration of Czechs, in reaction to a Czech newspaper report that the departures of Czech Romanies for Canada was organised, and had an economic subtext. Ottawa lifted visa requirements for Czechs in 2007, a decade after introducing them following a wave of asylum requests from Czech Romanies.
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04/23/2009
The International Monetary Fund says the Czech Republic’s economy is likely to shrink by 3.5 percent in 2009. In a global forecast that predicted world GDP contraction of 1.3 percent this year, the IMF said the Czech economy was likely to grow again in 2010, but only by 0.1 percent.
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04/23/2009
The Czech EU commissioner for labour and social affairs, Vladimír Špidla, will also be acting commissioner for regional policy between May 17 and June 7, when he stands in for Danuta Huebner, who is running for election to the European Parliament in Poland. A spokesperson for Mr Špidla said he was taking over the regional development brief at the request of the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso.
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04/23/2009
Three firms have made it into the next round of a huge tender to deal with extensive environmental damage resulting from the communist era. At around CZK 115 billion (over 5.5 billion dollars), the contract is one of the biggest ever offered by the Czech state. The companies in the running are Geosan Group, Marius Pedersen Engineering and Environmental Services, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
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04/23/2009
Conceptual artist Kateřina Šedá is set to become the first Czech woman to have a solo show at London’s Tate Modern gallery, Hospodářské noviny reported. A curator from the prestigious modern art gallery told the newspaper that Šedá was one of the most interesting personalities of her generation. The exhibition should be held either this autumn or next year.
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04/23/2009
Former Chelsea boss Avram Grant is be interested in the job of coaching the Czech national football team, Mladá fronta Dnes reported. The newspaper quoted a Czech football association official who apparently discussed the matter with the manager, who is 53, and previously helmed the Israeli national side. Czech FA executives are due to meet next Tuesday with a view to finding a replacement for Petr Rada, who was sacked earlier this month after only six competitive games in charge. No foreigner has ever managed the Czech international squad.
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04/22/2009
The Czech Defense Ministry is looking into complaints from the British military in Afghanistan after a Czech commander repeatedly refused to send his men into action. The Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported on Wednesday that the Czechs were acquiring a reputation of cowards, after the commander of a special operations unit refused to take part in an anti-terrorist operation on the grounds that it was “too dangerous”. The paper said that after being let down on several occasions the Brits had started working with Danish troops instead, leaving the specially trained Czech unit to serve as bodyguards for diplomats.
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04/22/2009
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday met with the newly appointed Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, whose caretaker cabinet is due to take over the Czech EU presidency in May. Although the cabinet line-up has not yet been officially confirmed, the hot candidate for foreign minister Jan Kohout was also present at the talks. Mr. Barroso said the European Commission fully supported the Czech EU presidency and expressed the hope that the new cabinet would effect a smooth transition. The Fischer caretaker government is due to take over on May 9 and should rule the country until early elections in October.
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04/22/2009
Outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek who is still at the helm of the Czech EU presidency has been holding talks in Moldova in an effort to calm tension following the communist party’s victory in the country’s disputed parliamentary elections. After meeting with President Vladimir Voronin, Prime Minister Zinaida Greceani and members of the opposition the Czech prime minister said he had received numerous documents and some evidence of potential manipulation which he would pass on to EU foreign ministers next week. He called for the establishment of a commission made up of government officials, representatives of the opposition and international institutions. Moldova’s opposition leaders insist the elections had been rigged, and say they have evidence of over 20,000 irregularities, including two different lists of voters.
Moldova is one of six former Soviet republics which have been invited to take part in the EU’s Eastern Partnership Programme to be launched at the bloc’s Prague summit on May 7. The Czech EU presidency has stressed the importance of forging closer ties with the former Soviet republics in order to motivate them on the road to democracy. The Eastern Partnership Programme aims to facilitate visa agreements, free trade deals and strategic partnership agreements.
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