• 03/30/2023

    The British ambassador to the Czech Republic, Matthew Field, will attend WWII veteran Emil Boček's funeral in Brno on Tuesday.

    Mr Boček was the last surviving Czech fighter pilot to serve in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the recipient of many awards. He passed away on Saturday, a month after celebrating his 100th birthday and receiving a congratulatory letter from King Charles III.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 03/30/2023

    The Academic Senate at his faculty at Prague’s University of Economics and Business this week decided to stand by controversial dean Miroslav Ševčík, Seznam Zprávy reported on Thursday.

    The rector of the entire institution, Petr Dvořák, recently called on Mr. Ševčík to step down after he appeared at a pro-Russian rally in Prague and was implicated when a mob tried to remove the Ukrainian flag from the National Museum.

    The Academic Senate at the Faculty of National Economy said it did not find Mr. Dvořák’s arguments compelling and said it would be up to him whether he decided to use his power to dismiss Mr. Ševčík.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 03/30/2023

    The Czech Ministry of Defence has distanced itself from athlete and Czech Olympic Committee member David Svoboda after he expressed support for Russians and Belarusians being allowed to take part in the Olympics. Svoboda, who won gold in the modern pentathlon in 2012, is a member of the Czech Army’s Dukla sports club.

    Speaking on Czech Television on Wednesday evening, he said athletes should not face discrimination on the basis of their political opinion.

    In a statement later the Ministry of Defence said Svoboda had questioned and relativised Russia’s crimes in Ukraine.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 03/29/2023

    The Czech minister of foreign affairs has responded to the International Olympic Committee, which on Tuesday recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to compete as neutrals.

    Speaking before a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Jan Lipavský said that Russian sports people were trained by the Russian state and that hundreds of sports people and coaches had died in Ukraine, which was an enormous human tragedy.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 03/29/2023

    The Czech Army aims to boost its air defence capabilities and is planning to buy missiles from the Israeli state firm Rafael, Právo reported on Wednesday.

    The Czech Ministry of Defence has been in talks with the company for more than a year about purchasing its Spyder anti-missile system at a cost of CZK 13.7 billion, the daily said.

    Czech officials were originally talking about missiles capable of destroying targets at a distance of up to 50 kilometres. However, at the start of the year they changed their demand to missiles that could reach up to 100 kilometres.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 03/29/2023

    Visitors to Prague’s Clementinum will be able to take part in a new Baroque tour at the Czech National Library’s historic complex from the start of April. The tour, which will allow access to unique spaces, including its Baroque library, has been created by the National Library and Prague City Tourism.

    Organisers say the aim is to present the Clementinum as not just a historical site but also a vibrant centre used by academics and students.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 03/29/2023

    The head of the Czech Army, Major General Karel Řehka, says defending the state is not a matter for the armed forces but for the whole of society. Speaking at Masaryk University in Brno on Wednesday, the chief of the General Staff said that security wasn’t discussed sufficiently openly in Czechia in past years; this created a sense that there were no dangers and that the army, or NATO, could take care of everything.

    Major General Řehka said earlier this year that a selective mobilization would be necessary in Czechia if there were a war between NATO and Russia on the alliance’s eastern flank. He said on Wednesday that it was bizarre that anybody questioned this idea.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 03/29/2023

    The state prosecutor is seeking a nine-year jail term for former Czech Football Association chief Miroslav Pelta, as well as a fine of CZK 25 million, over allegations of rigging sports grants. The prosecutor has also recommended that a former deputy education minister, Simona Kratochvílová, and the head of the Czech Sports Union, Miroslav Jansta, face trial on related charges.

    Two years ago Mr. Pelta and Ms. Kratochvílová were found guilty of abusing the allocation of sports grants. However an appeals court ruled in their favour and the matter is now being heard again.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 03/29/2023

    Hundreds of Czech trade unionists took part in a demonstration in Prague on Wednesday. The protest was called by the country’s largest union, KOVO, against a mooted increase in the pension age to 68, other pension reform and a planned EU emissions regulation named Euro 7.

    Union members gathered at the capital’s Letná Plane before marching to the nearby Office of the Government. However, the cabinet was not at the Straka Academy as ministers were meeting in the Moravian town of Jeseník.

    Former prime minister Andrej Babiš was among those who addressed the crowd at the Office of the Government.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 03/29/2023

    The Czech music industry saw year-on-year growth of 13.7 percent last year, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Czech branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Recorded music generated CZK 1.637 billion in 2022, it said.

    More than half of the money came from digital sales, while streaming rose by one-fifth. The country’s best-selling album last year was Příběhy a sny by Czech rapper Viktor Sheen.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

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