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03/31/2009
US President Barack Obama is to deliver his only public European speech at Hradčanské náměstí - one of the main squares near Prague Castle – on Sunday morning, the American Embassy in Prague has announced. The site, which offers a panorama of the Czech capital’s skyline, has been a topic of heavy speculation over the past month. Prior to his address, which is expected to centre on nuclear disarmament, Mr Obama will be meeting with Czech President Václav Klaus and will afterwards be attending an EU-US summit at Prague’s Congress Centre. A meeting with former Czech president Václav Havel is also planned for the weekend.
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03/31/2009
A survey for the month of March made by pollsters STEM and released ion Tuesday has shown that only 25% of Czech households have seen no difference in their spending habits. Meanwhile, 14% of families reported themselves to be living “from one payday to the next”, which is an increase from previous years. More than half of the families surveyed reported they are able to cover their standard expenses, however are not in a position to save for more expensive purchases.
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03/31/2009
Rivers at three locations in South Moravia reached second degree emergency levels on Tuesday. Rainfall has also swelled five other rivers in the region to “increased awareness” levels. Water management experts expect the surface levels to continue to rise through Tuesday and Wednesday, however the end of the week is expected to see dryer weather and higher temperatures. The region of Moravia, the eastern half of the Czech Republic, is frequently on alert for flooding, most recently in early March. Heavy flooding in the area in 1997 and 2002 led to deaths and significant material damage.
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03/31/2009
The Czech Ministry of Environment signed a major contract for the sale of carbon emission credits with Japan on Monday. The deal covers 40 million credits but the final selling price was not revealed. The Czech Republic stands to be a big seller of carbon credits under the Kyoto climate change protocol which allows countries that have cut pollution of the key greenhouse gas to cash in by selling their unused allocation. Minister for the Environment Martin Busík said the country stands to gain up to 25 billion crowns under the emissions trading system over the next four years. Cash received will be used for environmental project such as ecological heating of homes and blocks of flats.
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03/31/2009
Students who were forced to discontinue their studies for political reasons by the Communist regime after it came to power in 1948 and until 1956 can claim compensation under a proposal approved by the government on Monday. Compensation of up to 100,000 crowns can be awarded with individual applications being vetted by the ministries of education, defence and interior. The Ministry of Education said up to 900 people stood to gain from the measure when it was originally proposed but that total has now fallen to around 300.
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03/31/2009
The government approved moves to cut Value Added Tax on some labour intensive services at its Monday meeting. The measure should shift a series of services, such as dining in restaurants, getting a hair cut and bike repairs, into the lower nine percent sales tax bracket from the current 19 percent. The broad plans have already been backed at EU level. The step, aimed at saving jobs during the current crisis, is estimated to cost the Czech budget between 3.0 billion and 6.0 billion crowns a year.
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03/30/2009
President Václav Klaus called for a fast solution to the ongoing political crisis on Monday. He said an outgoing government was only half a government and the country wanted a fully functioning one. Negotiations between the country’s two biggest political parties are set to continue on what sort of transitional government should replace the toppled centre-right coalition. Five days after the defeat of the centre-right coalition government in a confidence vote, leaders of the right-wing Civic Democrats and left-wing Social Democrats have only agreed that early elections should take place in the autumn. Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek has so far stuck to his demands that a government of experts takes over. Outgoing Prime Minister and Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolánek says a transitional government should have a clear political mandate.
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03/30/2009
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has defended his now infamous “road to hell” comments about US measures to counter the economic crisis. In an article in Monday’s edition of the British daily, The Times, Mr Topolánek said he knew that his “hyperbolic” comments would be noticed but did not expect the stir they created. He said he was merely drawing attention to the dangers of protectionism and the adverse affects of state intervention suffered by the US in the 1930’s. Mr Topolánek likened his words to a warning to a friend crossing the street and defended the steps already agreed at EU level to boost the economy. The Czech Prime Minister’s comments have been taken as another signal that the world’s biggest economic powers will not agree a common economic stimulus package at the G20 meeting starting on Thursday.
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03/30/2009
Israeli President Shimon Peres began a two-day state visit to the Czech Republic on Monday. Mr. Peres said he expected significant progress in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year in comments following a meeting with Czech counterpart Václav Klaus. Mr Peres was due later to meet outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topálanek and former president Václav Havel. He will also visit the Terezín memorial to victims of the Jewish holocaust. The Terezín fortress was used as an assembly camp for Jews before they were sent by the Nazis to their deaths in concentration camps.
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03/30/2009
Separately, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has moved to dispel fears that the domestic political crisis will spill over into its EU presidency. In an interview on Monday with the German internet server Welt Online, he pointed out that institutions in Prague and Brussels were functioning normally. Mr Schwarzenberg also said he hoped the Czech Republic will ratify the EU’s reforming Lisbon Treaty in the coming weeks. The treaty is at the moment stalled in the Czech upper house, the Senate.
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