News

The Czech Army is planning to recruit around 1,800 new soldiers this year, according to the army chief-of- staff General Petr Pavel. The general said recruitments of a similar size would continue in the coming years until the army had raised the ranks of its professional soldiers from the present 21,000 to 27,600 which is the optimal number in view of the army’s role and NATO commitments. Petr Pavel said the army has suffered severe budget cuts in the past years due to the former government’s austerity program and some units were drastically undercut. The general stressed that while the Czech Army’s strength lies in its chemical unit and passive surveillance systems the army must maintain a high level of professionalism in all areas.

In ice hockey, the Czech national team bet Slovakia 3:2 but only after the match went into extra time and penalty shootouts. The narrow win was the third triumph in a row in preparations for the World Championships being hosted by Prague and Ostrava at the start of May. Five changes were made to the Czech team that faced Norway twice in the previous warm ups. Slovakia took the lead but the hosts turned the game around with two goals, one being the first for the national team by back Martin Pláněk. Slovakia’s forward Milan Bartovič left it until the 52nd minute to draw level at 2:2 and take the game into extra time.

Monaco’s crown prince Albert II has accepted an invitation to attend the ceremonies to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the birth of Charles IV next year. Albert is currently on a visit to Prague, the first by Monaco’s head of state, accompanied by a large business delegation. Invitations to the commemoration for Charles IV have already been accepted by the King of Spain and Archduke of Luxembourg. President Miloš Zeman let slip in a press conference after the prince’s visit that as a boy he fell platonically in love with the Albert’s mother, Grace Kelly, after seeing a film in which she starred.

Prices in March climbed by 0.2 percent compared with the same month a year earlier and by 0.1 percent compared with February, the Czech Statistics Office announced on Thursday. The year-on-year inflation rate is slightly higher than the 0.1 percentage rate over the last three months. The main factors fuelling price rises in March were transport costs, alcohol, and tobacco. The Czech National Bank is closely following the inflation rate for signs that current very low rates are rising, which could eventually prompt a change in policy.