News

A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry has revealed that a first group of foreign guest workers - who lost their jobs in the Czech Republic due to the economic crisis - left for home from Prague's Ruzyně airport on Thursday. The group included 16 Mongolian nationals who made use of the Czech state offer of free airline tickets and a 500-euro allowance. The 16 left for Frankfurt where they will change flights to Beijing; from there they will continue to Ulan Bator. The Interior Ministry registered more than 200 applications for free tickets and the allowance, mainly from Mongolian nationals, in the first three days of the project. The allowance and travel tickets are incentive for unemployed guest workers to return home rather than remain and work illegally in the Czech Republic.

Czech cross-country skiing star Lukáš Bauer has completed a final training run ahead of the men’s 15 kilometre classic race at the Nordic World Ski Championship underway in Liberec. The skier admitted he wasn’t satisfied with his training run on Thursday ahead of the race, but made clear he remained optimistic. The 15 km classic takes place on Friday.

The lower house of the Czech Parliament has voted to ratify the European Union’s Lisbon treaty. One hundred and twenty-five of the 197 MPs present gave their backing to the document, which reforms how the EU is run. Thirty-six Eurosceptic deputies from the ruling Civic Democrats voted against Lisbon, as did the vast majority of the opposition Communist Party. The Czech Republic was the last of the EU’s 27 members to vote on the treaty. However, Wednesday morning’s vote is not the end of the matter. The Senate, where there is a significant bloc of Eurosceptic Civic Democrats, is expected to vote on the treaty in April. If approved by the upper house, Lisbon ratification must then be signed by President Václav Klaus. Mr Klaus, a firm opponent of further European integration, has indicated he will not sign the document unless it is approved by Ireland; Irish voters rejected Lisbon in a referendum last June and are due to vote on it again this year.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to visit Prague next Monday, the CTK news agency reported. He is expected to meet with Czech President Václav Klaus and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, who led an EU delegation to the Middle East at the start of the year. As the country presiding over the EU, the Czech Republic has been actively involved in seeking a solution to the Middle East crisis. The Palestinian president was originally expected in Prague on February 2nd but the visit was postponed in order for him to attend peace talks in Cairo.