• Police investigating radars deal at instigation of minister
    05/22/2018

    Police are investigating a deal under which the Ministry of Defence plans to buy mobile radars for billions of crowns, the minister of defence, Karla Šlechtová, said on Tuesday. She said she had contacted the military police in connection with “very serious findings” relating to the matter.

    Ms. Šlechtová indicated that issues surrounding major defence deals could be linked to what she called media attacks on her in recent weeks, the Czech News Agency said.

    Prague plans to buy new radars from Israel at a cost of CZK 3.5 billion under an agreement reached but not signed by Martin Stropnický, Ms. Šlechtová’s predecessor. She had a number of major contracts examined after taking over and says she there are question marks surrounding the radars deal.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Chambers: Stay at home ministers harming companies abroad
    05/22/2018

    Government ministers have stopped taking part in international trips with Czech entrepreneurs and this could cost the latter in terms of deals, a number of business chambers said in a statement to the Czech News Agency on Tuesday.

    A spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce, Miroslav Diro, said Czech firms could lose out to rivals from other states when it comes to import and export opportunities. Mr. Diro said the minister of finance and minister of industry and trade often helped open doors for his group’s members internationally.

    The acting prime minister, Andrej Babiš, has in the past said that the state is not a travel agency. He said the country should be represented by diplomats, who are paid for that service, abroad.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Čech wins award from journalists for 12th time
    05/22/2018

    Goalkeeper Petr Čech has won the Golden Ball for Czech footballer of the year for the 12th time. The prize is decided by a poll of journalists. Čech, who turned 36 on Sunday, finished ahead of midfielder Antonín Barák of Italian club Udinese and Pavel Kadeřábek, a defender with Hoffenheim.

    Last season the Arsenal man became the first goalkeeper in the English Premier League to achieve 200 clean sheets. Though now retired from the international game, he is the most capped Czech ever with 124 appearances.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Prague gets ball rolling on additional section of “D” Metro line
    05/22/2018

    Prague council has instructed the Prague Institute of Planning and Development to change the city’s territorial plan to allow for the building of a further section of a planned new “D” Metro line. The addition to the underground rail network should run northeast from Náměstí Míru to Žižkov and then on to Vysočany. However, it is not yet clear what precise route it will follow or where it will have stations.

    The first part of the D line should run from Písnice in the south of the city to Pankrác, which should later be connected to Náměstí Míru. Discussions about constructing a fourth Metro line began in the 1980s.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Social Democrats chief predicts close result of vote on ANO coalition
    05/22/2018

    Social Democrats chairman Jan Hamáček says that he expects the outcome of an internal party vote on whether to enter a coalition with ANO to be close. Mr. Hamáček – who backs such a coalition – made the comment after a meeting of party representatives in the Moravian Silesian Region on Monday evening.

    The party leader said he had a “good feeling” after the gathering. However, he conceded that opinion was evenly split on whether to enter a minority coalition with ANO that would likely be supported on key votes by the Communist Party.

    Mr. Hamáček has been trying to drum up backing for the mooted coalition at local branches of the Social Democrats. The internal party ballot began on Monday and will continue until mid-June.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    05/22/2018

    Wednesday should see bright spells with a strong chance of storms in the Czech Republic, with temperatures of up to 22 degrees Celsius. More storms and rain and similar daytime highs are due through to the start of next week.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Strong earthquake recorded near Cheb
    05/22/2018

    Another earthquake occurred in the Cheb area of West Bohemia on Monday night. The tremors, which reached up to 4.1 on the Richter Scale, were strongest before midnight, seismologists said. The area around Cheb – which is in the Karlovy Vary Region – has been experiencing a series of earthquakes over the last two weeks. However, Monday night’s was likely the strongest this year.

    Tremors were felt in half of the territory of the Czech Republic and in Bavaria, which neighbours West Bohemia.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Steve Bannon and Lanny Davis to hold debate in Prague
    05/22/2018

    Steve Bannon, Republican and Former White House chief strategist to President Trump, and Lanny Davis, Democrat and Former White House special counsel and Hillary Clinton supporter will take part in a debate in Prague´s Žofín Palace on Tuesday.

    The debate, titled "What the heck is going on in America?" will cover globalism, international trade, economic nationalism and immigration.

    It will be moderated by former Czech minister of defense and ambassador to USA Alexandr Vondra. Both influential Americans were invited to Prague by the industrial holding CZECHOSLOVAK GROUP in cooperation with CEVRO University.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech Foreign Ministry concerned over developments in Venezuela
    05/22/2018

    The Czech Foreign Ministry has expressed deep concern over the result of Venezuela’s presidential election in which leftist authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro defended his post on Sunday.

    In a statement issued on Monday the ministry said the election lacked fundamental democratic elements, opposition parties and organizations have been under permanent pressure and there have been persistent violations of human rights in the country.

    It called on Venezuela’s government to launch a constructive dialogue with the opposition, release all political prisoners and respect human rights and freedoms.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech and Finnish PMs call for viable EU asylum system
    05/21/2018

    The European Union needs a strong and viable asylum system, the Czech and Finnish heads of government Andrej Babis and Juha Sipila agreed during their talks in Helsinki on Monday.

    The two officials said migration was an issue on which the EU badly needed to reach consensus and stressed that migrant quotas were obviously not the answer. The two heads of government said they also had a similar take on EU budget issues, post Brexit.

    The Czech Prime Minister is also scheduled to attend the Czech-Finnish business forum and sign a memorandum on Czech accession to the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, which has been operating in Helsinki since April 2017.

    Before his departure, Mr Babiš told journalists he would also like to visit a Finnish primary school and university to find inspiration for Czech school reform.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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