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06/22/2018
The annual “Festival of the five-petalled rose” is now underway in the picturesque southern Bohemian town of Český Krumlov. This weekend, the town will be transported back to the Renaissance period when under the rule of the noble Rožmberk family.
The town’s streets and squares will be filled with the knightly tournaments, historical crafts fairs, banquets and medieval music. Among the most popular events each year is the jousting tournament, recalling a past legend about cutting roses.
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06/22/2018
The government has approved police president Tomáš Tuhý’s departure for the post of Czech ambassador to Bratislava, the news site Neovlivní.cz. reported. However, Mr. Tuhý had previously said he had no intention of leaving the force and on Thursday wrote on Twitter that he had no information about such a move.
The news site Aktuálně.cz reported that Mr. Tuhý would only become ambassador to Bratislava when his mandate as police chief expired next year.
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06/22/2018
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has called a meeting of the State Security Council on Friday to discuss the protection of Czech borders if Germany decides to turn migrants away at its borders. He said on Thursday that a crisis plan was already in place for such a scenario under which the Czech police, customs and possibly the army would be deployed.
Mr. Babiš said that his Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz, had said at a Visegrad Four plus Austria meeting on Thursday that his country would take similar action if Germany started turning migrants away.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking a new deal at EU level over migrants. However the junior partner in her coalition government wants the police to be allowed to reject undocumented migrants at the border.
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06/21/2018
Speaking after a meeting of the leaders of the Visegrad Four states and Austria on Thursday, the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, said that the European Union agency charged with guarding the bloc’s borders, Frontex, did not have sufficient powers.
Mr. Babiš said that Frontex should focus its energies on combatting the people smugglers making billions out of migration.
Thursday’s meeting in Budapest was primarily focused on illegal migration and comes ahead of a planned informal EU meeting on Brussels on Sunday about asylum policy and a major summit in the city at the end of next week.
Contrary to a previous statement that he would be attending Sunday’s meeting, Mr. Babiš said no Visegrad Four leaders would be there. He said only countries “friendly to migration” would be involved.
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06/21/2018
Sudeten German leader Bernd Posselt has criticised what he called “attacks” by Czech politicians on Chancellor Angela Merkel. The German head of government said on Wednesday that there had been no moral or political justification for the post-war expulsion of Germans from Central and Eastern European countries.
Responding, the Czech president, Miloš Zeman, said he deeply disagreed with her words, while the country’s prime minister, Andrej Babiš, said her statement was unacceptable.
Mr. Posselt said that elements in the Czech establishment were sliding toward the communist past, adding that the expulsions constituted a human rights violation.
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06/21/2018
A ceremony was held in Prague on Thursday honouring General Helidor Píka, who became the first victim of judicial murder in Czechoslovakia on 21 June 1949. He had been found guilty of treason in a Communist Party-orchestrated show trial.
General Píka served in the Czechoslovak Legions in WWI before becoming one of the highest ranking and most respected officers in the interwar Czechoslovak army. He was a prominent member of the anti-Nazi resistance during WWII.
The memorial to him at Vítězné náměstí in Prague 6 was attended by relatives, representatives of the Czech government, veterans and members of the public.
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06/21/2018
The company Imoba, which is part of the Agrofert conglomerate, has agreed to voluntarily return an EU subsidy of CZK 50 million that was issued for the Stork’s Nest complex near Prague. Imoba has drafted an agreement on repaying the money that includes a clause stating that the move does not represent an admission that grant regulations were breached.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš of ANO, the founder of Agrofert, denies criminal charges that he wrongly acquired EU funding in connection with Stork’s Nest. The matter has had an impact on Czech politics, with some parties refusing to enter government with a grouping whose leader is facing court on a criminal matter.
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06/21/2018
Prime Minister-designate Andrej Babiš of ANO plans to announce on Friday afternoon the names of nominees for a minority government he is attempting to form with the Social Democrats. On the same day President Miloš Zeman is due to hold a meeting with the Social Democrats’ candidate for foreign minister, Miroslav Poche, who both Mr. Zeman and the ANO leader are opposed to.
Mr. Babiš is likely to reveal the new cabinet line-up after that meeting on Friday. He has refused to comment on the future of individual ministers in the current ANO-only acting cabinet.
The prospective ANO-Social Democrats coalition would be supported by the Communist Party on key votes in the lower house. The Communists are also against Mr. Poche being appointed foreign policy chief.
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06/21/2018
It should be quite overcast and rainy in the Czech Republic on Friday, with daytime highs of up to 17 degrees Celsius. The weekend should see similar weather before temperatures begin to climb in the first half of next week.
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06/21/2018
The heads of governments of the Visagrad Four states are holding a summit in Budapest on Thursday.
The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, who will be joined by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, will be debating priorities of the upcoming Austrian presidency of the EU Council, including the fight of illegal migration.
The V4 meeting takes place just a week ahead of EU summit in Brussels, focused on migration, security and defence.
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