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03/18/2009
Czech citizens from Carpathian Ruthenia may be eligible to receive compensation for property they lost in 1945, after the Czech lower house passed the respective bill in its second reading on Wednesday, sending it to a final vote. According to the bill Czechs who lost their property when Carpathian Ruthenia was annexed to the Soviet Union in 1945 would be able to receive up to two million crowns each in compensation if they can prove their ownership rights. Around 400 people are expected to stake a claim which would cost the state budget 800 million crowns at the most. If the bill is passed compensation payments would be made as of 2010.
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03/18/2009
Police have filed charges against a judge who was secretly filmed by reporters while accepting a bribe. Judge Pavel Nagy has been accused of bribery, abuse of power and fraud for which he could be sentenced up to twelve years in prison. A team of investigative reporters set out to trap him after one of his clients complained that he had asked for money in return for a verdict in her favour. Reporters discovered that the judge was deep in debt.
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03/18/2009
A ban on filming and interviewing politicians in certain parts of the Czech lower house has angered reporters and divided politicians. According to a set of new regulations introduced, a TV or radio reporter can ask an MP for an interview anywhere on the premises but the interview must be conducted at a new press centre set up for this purpose. Reporters claim the measure is aimed at making politicians less accessible, since reporters will no longer be able to accost them in the corridor and tape their immediate reactions to uncomfortable questions.
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03/18/2009
Former Czech Republic and Austria coach Karel Bruckner is retiring from the game after over 50 years in football. Bruckner, who has coached since 1973, said his decision was final. It comes just weeks after he resigned as coach of the Austrian national team. The former Czech Republic tactician was set to retire after his side crashed out of Euro 2008 last summer, but he accepted the Austria job to get over the loss against Turkey during the tournament held in Austria and Switzerland. Bruckner led his former Czech Republic side to qualification for three major tournaments since taking over in 2001. He ensured his team reached Euro 2004, World Cup 2006 and Euro 2008, before taking over Austria.
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03/17/2009
Czech Minister of the Interior Ivan Langer has declared that the country is not looking to take in prisoners from the US Guantanamo detention facility. Langer’s comments to Czech Television came as he headed an EU fact-finding trip to Washington to consult with US officials about conditions for accepting the prisoners. The US reportedly wants EU states to take in around 60 of the 245 inmates who are controversially being held as terrorism suspects without trial. Langer together with EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Jacques Barrot, continue their US trip on Tuesday.
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03/17/2009
A move to cut noise and exhaust pollution on one of Prague’s central transport arteries, Legerova Ulice, has hit problems. A section of the road was cut from four to three lanes at the weekend by local authorities in a bid to deal with one of the capital’s worst pollution blackspots. Predictions of traffic chaos became reality for drivers heading from the centre of Prague southwards across Nusle Bridge during the Monday evening peak hour when a top, level five, traffic snarl up was declared. The scenario was repeated again on Tuesday morning with some reports claiming noise pollution is even worse following the measure.
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03/17/2009
The Czech presidency of the EU claimed Tuesday a breakthrough in removing barriers faced by citizens living and working abroad when claiming social benefits in their host country. New rules for coordinating of EU social security systems have been hammered out between the presidency and European Parliament after years of wrangling, it said. Electronic data exchange between administrations is one of the main planks of the compromise deal allowing benefits applications to be dealt with faster. The deal still requires final ratification.
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03/17/2009
A special session of the lower house of Parliament during which the government will face a no confidence motion will take place on March 24, the house’s press office told Czech News Agency late on Tuesday. The main opposition party, the Social Democrats, tabled a no confidence vote over the so-called Wolf affair. This centres on attempts by the Prime Minister’s close aid, Marek Dalík, to try and put pressure on Czech Television to drop a programme about former Social Democrat deputy, Petr Wolf. The programme focused on allegations he obtained millions of crowns illegally. Mr. Wolf has sided with the fragile governing coalition in key votes. The confidence motion is the fifth attempt by the Social Democrats to unseat the government.
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03/17/2009
The main opposition party, the Social Democrats, succeeded Tuesday in tabling a debate in the lower house of Parliament Wednesday over the installation of a US radar on Czech soil. The move to debate the bilateral agreement was opposed by the governing coalition. The small Green Party in particular called for a longer delay to give more time to understand the new US administration’s stand on anti-missile defence and defence alternatives within the North Atlantic alliance. The Greens were able to push in February for a postponement of the debate. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said over the weekend that the US radar would be built, but probably with a delay compared with original plans. The government later withdrew ratification of the agreements from the lower chamber in a move to sidestep the chance that they would be voted down.
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03/17/2009
Up to 3,000 police will be deployed in Prague for US President Barack Obama’s Prague visit on April-4-5, Prague police director Martin Červíček announced on Tuesday. Earlier police estimates said that around 2,500 police would be on duty. Mr. Červíček said the scale of the police operation corresponded with that undertaken for the NATO summit in the Czech capital in 2002, which cost around 1.0 billion crowns with two thirds of that spent on security. The first of a series of meetings between Prague City authorities, police and public transport chiefs to make preparations was due to be held on Tuesday.
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