News

The Czech Defence ministry on Thursday signed a memorandum with American aerospace manufacturer Bell Textron about including Czech industry in the recently signed deal for purchasing 12 military helicopters for the country’s armed forces. According to the document, five Czech companies will be cooperating with the American manufacturer and overall Czech industry involvement will be 30 percent, the Czech News Agency reports.

The Czech helicopter purchase was signed off last week in the Pentagon by Defence Minister Vladimír Metnar. The eight multi-purpose UH-1Y Venom’s and four AH-1Z Viper battle helicopters will cost some CZK 14.7 billion excluding VAT.

Czech church representatives have spoken out against a plan to legalise euthanasia in the Czech Republic. The joint declaration was signed by 18 public figures including the Roman Catholic priest and philosopher Tomáš Halík, the chief rabbi of the Czech Republic, Karol Sidon, and Bishop Václav Malý. The bill on legalising euthanasia by doctors under certain circumstances and under strict conditions was put forward by the ruling ANO Party and the opposition Pirate Party. It should be debated in the lower house by March 2020.

The signatories of the petition argue that legalising euthanasia would put the Czech Republic on a slippery slope, because it is hard to regulate and those concerned may find themselves under psychological pressure to end their lives.

The proposal has already been criticised by the Czech Bishops Conference, the Ecumenical Council of Churches, the Federation of Jewish Communities and the Association of Muslim Communities in the Czech Republic.

President Miloš Zeman has asked the Senate to approve his nomination of Pavel Šámal, chairman of the Supreme Court, to the post of a Constitutional Court judge.

Mr Šámal has served as Chairman of the Supreme Court since 2015. His term in the office expires in 2023, when he turns 70.

The 15-member Constitutional Court has been incomplete since the beginning of the year, when one of judges, Jan Musil, resigned from his post.

President Miloš Zeman has signed an amendment to the law on state social support which increases the parental leave benefit. Under the amendment, the basic parental leave will increase by CZK 80,000 in January to CZK 300,000.

The Christian Democrats said earlier this week they would seek to counter the new legislation with an appeal to the Constitutional Court, arguing that it is discriminatory because it doesn’t concern all families with children up to the age of four.

The parental leave benefit is paid monthly for a period of up to four years. Parents can opt to draw money over a shorter period, with the monthly allowance currently capped at CZK 32,640.