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04/30/2004
A bomb threat led the authorities to close two border crossings between Germany and the Czech Republic on Friday, just hours before the historic enlargement of the European Union. For four hours police with sniffer dogs combed two crossings near the town of Rozvadov without finding anything suspicious. The closure resulted in long cues on both sides of the border. Police are investigating the bomb threat. Meanwhile, security is tight at the German border town of Zittau, where German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla and Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller are due to attend the festivities on Saturday.
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04/30/2004
A bill stating that the former president Edvard Benes made an outstanding contribution to Czechoslovakia, is to become law. Edvard Benes was president just before and after the Second World War. The bill has divided the Czech Lower House and the Senate, with the latter strongly opposed to it. It has also evoked strong criticism in neighbouring Austria and Germany where some politicians have described it as a slap in the face to the 2.5 million ethnic Germans who were forcibly expelled from post war Czechoslovakia under decrees issued by Benes. President Klaus decided he would neither sign, nor veto the bill, saying that he believed each citizen should be allowed to form his own opinion about historical events.
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04/30/2004
A commemorative ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the death of the famous Czech composer Antonin Dvorak was held at Prague's Visehrad cemetery on Friday afternoon. The ceremony was attended by leading cultural and political figures and followed by a mass served by Cardinal Miloslav Vlk. Antonin Dvorak was hailed as the most famous composer in Czech history -and possibly the most famous Czech personality of all time. His best known work the New World Symphony accompanied Man's first steps on the Moon.
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04/29/2004
President Vaclav Klaus has granted pardon to a former gambling addict convicted of committing fraud nine years ago. According to the presidential office, Jiri Hladky paid the damages in full in the time set by the court and has lived a law-abiding life for five years. President Klaus has granted pardons to 17 people since taking office last year in March. His predecessor, Vaclav Havel, was often criticised for dispensing too many pardons and sometimes to controversial figures. Mr Klaus said shortly after his election last year that he would only grant pardons in exceptional cases.
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04/29/2004
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Zdenek Skromach, has said that the government is going to take steps to prevent the Czech workforce from leaving the country in search of work in other EU countries. Those steps should include, for example, harmonising of social benefits and taxes. Meanwhile, the Czech government is still negotiating with the "old" member states about free access for Czech citizens to their labour markets as most of the current EU states have taken measures preventing the new European citizens to be employed there. Czechs will be allowed to work freely in Britain, Ireland and Sweden as well as in the fellow EU accession states of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Baltic countries.
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04/29/2004
The Information Technology Minister, Vladimir Mlynar, has asked the anti-monopoly office to examine Wednesday's replacement of two executives of the mobile operator Eurotel and a subsequent personnel link with the management of Eurotel's parent company, Cesky Telecom. Mr Mlynar said he wants to know whether or not the change runs counter to the terms under which the anti-monopoly office approved the merger of the two telecommunications companies last year. On Wednesday, the executive board of Cesky Telecom dismissed Eurotel's CEO, Terrence Valeski, along with the head of the legal division, Lubos Borik, and replaced them with executives from Cesky Telecom.
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04/29/2004
The new Health Minister, Jozef Kubinyi, has said that the problems of the country's national health insurer, the General Health Insurance Company, or VZP, and its head, Jirina Musilkova, should be discussed by the lower house of parliament. Shortly after taking office two weeks ago, Minister Kubinyi said that the VZP was "ineffective" and mismanaged its funds and that Ms Musilkova could not handle her post and should resign. Minister Kubinyi said the law does not allow him to propose that Ms Musilkova be recalled from her post.
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04/29/2004
Police in North Moravia say they have detained two men suspected of producing and distributing child porn videos and of abusing boys aged 8 to 12 years. One of the suspects worked as the head of a young boys' hiking group. Both men are accused of abusing about 20 children. If found guilty, the two 34-year-olds face up to 10 years in prison.
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04/28/2004
The Czech government has given the nod for the Interior Ministry to prepare legislation that would legalise prostitution while bringing it under regulation of the state. Under the bill prostitutes would pay taxes for plying their trade and would be required to take monthly medical check-ups. Licences to prostitutes would be issued by offices in authorised municipalities to both Czech and foreigner sex workers over the age of eighteen. Professional facilities, meanwhile, offering sex would also have to pay a set annual fee, early estimates say, of 200, 000 crowns. The sex trade is widespread in the Czech Republic: some reports have as many as 25, 000 individuals currently working as prostitutes throughout the country, roughly half of those foreign nationals.
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04/28/2004
The Finance Ministry has released its macroeconomic forecast for 2005, saying the Czech GDP economic growth will be expected to accelerate from 2.8 percent this year to 3.1. Estimates meanwhile show a drop in inflation by 0.3 percent.
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