• Commemorative ceremony at Lety
    05/13/2005

    Several dozen people on Friday gathered at Lety, the site of a former Nazi concentration camp for Romanies, to attend a commemorative ceremony for the 326 people who died there in the war years. Lety is a sensitive and controversial legacy for Czechs since the camp was staffed solely by Czech guards and was initially set up by the Czech puppet government early in the Nazi occupation. Adding insult to injury, the communist authorities later built a pig farm on the site of the former camp, which has not been removed to this day. The European Parliament recently approved a resolution urging the Czech government to have the farm relocated as quickly as possible.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Prime Minister Paroubek faces question-and-answer session in Chamber of Deputies
    05/12/2005

    The Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek faced a question-and-answer session in the lower house of parliament on Thursday ahead of Friday's confidence vote in Mr Paroubek's new coalition government. Among the topics that Mr Paroubek had to defend his position on were the privatisation of Czech Telecom and the future leadership of the government's anti-drug commission. Mr Paroubek was named prime minister last month, after his predecessor Stanislav Gross resigned.

    While both opposition parties, the right-of-centre Civic Democrats and the Communists, have said they would not support the new coalition in Friday's no-confidence vote, Mr Paroubek is confident that all 101 government deputies in the 200-seat lower house will unanimously vote in favour of the coalition.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Anti-Monopoly Office launches investigation into bank charges of largest banks
    05/12/2005

    The Czech Anti-Monopoly Office has launched administrative proceedings against three of the country's biggest banks. Ceska Sporitelna, Komercni Banka, and CSOB are suspected of concluding a cartel agreement on bank charges. The three banks charge much higher fees than in most other EU member states. If the banks are proven guilty, they can face a fine of up to ten million Czech crowns (some 420,000 US dollars) or amounting to ten percent of profits recorded in 2004.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • President Klaus signs laws prohibiting Schwarz System and compensating victims of 1968 occupation
    05/12/2005

    The Czech President Vaclav Klaus has signed an amendment to the employment law prohibiting what is called the Schwarz System, where companies employ people with trade licenses to do work that regular staff members are capable of doing. The amendment is to help define illegal outsourcing more clearly. President Klaus also signed a bill into law on Thursday that provides compensation to victims of the 1968 Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia. Depending on how badly they were affected, victims or their surviving relatives will receive between 30,000 and 150,000 crowns (1,300-6,300 US dollars) from the state.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Chamber of Deputies proposes to dissolve dozens of political groupings
    05/12/2005

    The lower house of the Czech Parliament has proposed to stop the activities or dissolve some 54 political parties and movements. They are said to have broken the law by failing to forward the entire or part of their business management reports for 2004 to the lower house. The lower house has therefore asked the government to propose to the Supreme Administrative Court to end the activities of 38 of the political groupings and dissolve 16 of them, which are no longer active. The parties and movements involved - some took part in the last elections - include the ultra-right Republicans of Miroslav Sladek and the Roma Civic Initiative.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Prague Spring opens in Prague
    05/12/2005

    The 60th Prague Spring music festival is underway in the Czech capital. It was opened by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, with a cycle of symphonic poems by Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, who died 120 twenty years ago. The festival will come to a close on June 4.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Czechs reach semi-finals at Ice Hockey World Championships
    05/12/2005

    The Czech Republic's ice hockey team have made it to the semi-finals of the World Championships in Vienna after beating the United States 3:2 on Thursday. The teams battled to a 2-2 tie after regulation time and a 10 minute overtime period, before heading into penalty shots at which Martin Rucinsky was the only one of 10 shooters to score. The Czech Republic will face the winner of Thursday's Sweden-Switzerland quarter final in the semi-finals on Saturday.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Unions hold back railway strike
    05/11/2005

    Railway workers unions have called off the possibility of a general strike for at least the next one hundred days as they allow new management at Czech Railways to consider their proposals. The unions have expressed concern - and threatened to strike - over the possibility of excessive lay-offs in line with Czech Railway's long-term business plans. An estimated 6,000 employees are expected to lose their jobs this year, the same number as in 2004. Overall Czech Railways employs close to 70, 000 people.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Czechs to seek revenge against USA at Ice Hockey World Championships
    05/11/2005

    The Czech Republic beat Belarus 5:1 in their last game in the group phases of the Ice Hockey World Championships in Vienna on Tuesday evening. On Thursday the Czechs play the USA in the quarter-finals of the competition. It will be a chance for revenge for the Czech team, who were knocked out by the Americans at the same stage of the competition in Prague last year.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • New Czech PM says ratification of EU Constitution top government priority
    05/10/2005

    The new Czech prime minister, Jiri Paroubek, has laid out the policy programme of his coalition government. At a news conference in Prague on Tuesday, the prime minister said its main objective would be to ratify the European Union Constitution. He said he hoped the issue would be put to a public referendum at the same time as general elections next summer. The prime minister also said he would support exports and small and medium-sized businesses.

    Mr Paroubek's new government faces its first test on Friday, when it will undergo a vote of confidence. The prime minister says he is positive it will receive the backing of all 101 government deputies.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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