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04/24/2004
Just a week before the Czech Republic remains set to join the European Union in a wave of historic expansion, Czech President Vaclav Klaus has spoken at the Asian economic forum on the island of Po-ao, China, discussing the future of the EU. On Saturday the Czech president assured delegates that - despite the Czech Republic's joining - the country would remain open to the rest of the world. Mr Klaus compared EU accession to making an investment, which he added, need not always be a success. Meanwhile, during his appearance at the economic forum Mr Klaus had the opportunity to speak with former U.S. president George H.W. Bush, a former U.S. ambassador to China in the 1970s. One of the top issues discussed was the current situation in Iraq.
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04/24/2004
Delegates from the UNIOS group of unions representing the gas industry and communal services have released a statement saying the government should scrap the system of civil servants' so-called 13th and 14th month bonus salaries in favour of raising workers' basic monthly wages. UNIOS chairman Karel Sladkovsky made the announcement on Saturday shortly after union representatives completed a meeting in Prague. Earlier in the week more than 200, 000 civil servants went on strike in the Czech Republic in protest of the government's decision to pay them only 10 percent, instead of the usual 50 percent of the 13th month bonus. Mr Sladkovsky criticised the government's plan to implement a new 16 point wage scale without, in his words, "knowing what to do next". Some 750, 000 work in the public sector, with roughly 450, 000 receiving salaries from the state budget.
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04/24/2004
The 68th Ice Hockey World Championship officially kicked-off on Saturday in the Czech capital Prague, as well as the Czech Republic's third largest city Ostrava. International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel officially welcomed fans on Saturday afternoon to Prague's new Sazka arena, in advance of the Czech national team's opening game versus Latvia. The official opening followed two games earlier in the day in which Slovakia easily defeated Ukraine 2-0, and France fell to Austria 6-0.
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04/23/2004
Czech Radio has reported that one of the diplomats to represent the Czech Republic in EU bodies collaborated with the Communist-era StB secret police. According to Czech Radio, Petr Mooz was listed as an agent in StB files. Mr Mooz was screened under the so-called "lustration" process and received a "clean" certificate from the Interior Ministry in 1992 - he maintains that he never collaborated with the communist political police.
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04/23/2004
The new Health Minister, Jozef Kubinyi, has criticised the method through which state-run hospitals were transferred under the administration of individual regions last year. Regional governors have repeatedly criticised the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla for handing over to them hospitals burdened by billions of crowns worth of debts. Minister Kubinyi has also appointed his new deputies, raising their number from four to six. He plans to put forward a reform of the health-care sector by the end of September. Mr Kubinyi's predecessor, Marie Souckova, was recalled last week for failing to produce a sound reform plan for the ailing health sector.
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04/23/2004
The Czech-born American film director Milos Forman has received the 2004 Film Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the International Film Festival in San Francisco. A leading representative of the 1960s' "New Wave" of Czech film, Milos Forman moved to the United States after the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. He continued his filmmaking career in the U.S. and directed many films, including Oscar-winners "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus".
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04/23/2004
The Czech Republic has beaten Canada 8:5 in their last warm-up game before the ice hockey World Championships. After the match, Czech coach Slavomir Lener announced his 25-man squad for the competition, which begins on Saturday and takes place in Prague and Ostrava.
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04/22/2004
A bill reducing the top value added tax rate from 22 to 19 percent has been passed by the Chamber of Deputies, overturning a veto by President Vaclav Klaus. All Chamber business had been suspended since Tuesday to allow the foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, more time to recover after a recent car crash. Mr Svoboda was flown to Prague by helicopter from his hospital in Brno; his vote was crucial because the government has a majority of only one in the 200-seat lower house.
Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the new VAT rate could take effect as of Friday, when it is published in the Czech Republic's Collection of Laws. Minister Sobotka had been pushing hard to have the change adopted ahead of European Union accession on May 1, saying failure to do so would have harmed Czech trade with other EU states.
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04/22/2004
Meanwhile, President Vaclav Klaus has said the Czech Republic will cease to exist as an independent state once the country joins the EU. In an article in the newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes, Mr Klaus - a long-term critic of European integration - said the Czech Republic and the other nine countries joining the Union should assert themselves or be lost within the expanded 25-member bloc.
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04/22/2004
Mr Klaus is currently on an official visit to China, where he has made history by becoming the first Czech president to meet his Chinese counterpart. During Thursday's meeting in Beijing, President Hu Jintao pointed out that ten years ago Mr Klaus had been the first Czech prime minister to visit his country.
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