• 03/13/2024

    Roughly 300,000 people are at risk of losing their jobs in the next five years and about one million will have to enhance their professional skills, the head of the Labour Office, Daniel Krištof, told Czech Television. He said the Labour Office was trying to prepare applicants for the changing requirements, particularly in the field of IT, but noted that interest in training and requalification courses is very low particularly among older applicants who are often at risk of losing their job. One of the reasons behind the reported lack of interest is that Czechia has an unemployment rate of 4 percent, the third lowest in Europe.

  • 03/13/2024

    The leaders of the five coalition parties in government are calling for an extraordinary meeting of the lower house in response to information that ANO party leader Andrej Babiš had asked his associates for sensitive information about Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský and his family. The mail, which contained vulgar language, was accidentally sent to the wrong address and later reported on by Novinky.cz. Lipavský expressed disgust at the content of the mail. Members of the ruling collation accused the opposition leader of using methods reminiscent of the former communist secret police. Babiš later apologized for the vulgar language, but said he saw nothing wrong with his request.

  • 03/12/2024

    Support for Czechia’s membership in NATO is consistently high among Czechs, according to the results of public opinion surveys. Twenty-five years after the Czech Republic joined the alliance 70 percent of Czechs welcome its membership in the organization, according to a January survey by the STEM institute. Majority support for NATO membership has been long-standing, never dropping below 50 percent since the country’s accession. Since 2001 it has remained above 70 percent. It was at its highest in March 2022, not long after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when 78 percent of respondents expressed themselves in favour of Czech membership in NATO.

  • 03/12/2024

    Wednesday should be partly cloudy to overcast with some rain in the south and day temperatures between 9 and 14 degrees Celsius.

  • 03/12/2024

    The train route to Usti nad Labem, north of Prague, was closed for four hours on Tuesday morning after a freight train carrying hazardous substances collided with a passenger car near Libčice nad Vltavou, the Czech Press Agency reported.  Nobody was hurt in the accident and the cargo on the train remained intact. The preliminarily damage estimate is around 800.000 crowns. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

  • 03/12/2024

    Health data suggest that there has been a significant increase in tuberculosis cases in Czechia in recent years. According to statistics there was a 17-percent increase in tuberculosis cases in 2023, with almost half of the 447 cases being foreigners, the majority from Ukraine, but also Vietnam and Romania. It is estimated that up to 500 more cases could have gone unreported. Doctors are especially concerned about the growing number of people for whom conventional treatment is not working.

  • 03/12/2024

    The head of the opposition ANO party Andrej Babiš is under fire for having requested his associates to find compromising information about Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský and his family. The mail which contained vulgar language was accidentally sent to the wrong address and later reported on by Novinky.cz. Lipavský expressed disgust at the content of the email. Members of the ruling collation accused the opposition leader of using stb tactics, referring to the methods of the former communist secret police. Babiš later apologized for the vulgar language, but said he saw nothing wrong with his actions.

  • 03/12/2024

    Former US President Bill Clinton, who is in Prague to attend a conference marking 25 years since Czechia’s accession to NATO, on Monday met for talks with Prime Minister Petr Fiala. They discussed the present security situation and international assistance for Ukraine which is resisting a full-scale invasion from Russia for the third year now. Mr. Clinton expressed appreciation for the Czech initiative to find badly needed ammunition for Ukraine from outside the EU.

    It was also announced that the Czech prime minister would be received by President Biden in the White House on April 15. The meeting should focus on further strengthening Czech-American ties, reaffirm  continued support for Ukraine and address a wide range of security and business issues.

  • 03/12/2024

    Former US President Bill Clinton has been awarded the Order of T.G. Masaryk for promoting democracy, stability and security in Central and Eastern Europe. Mr. Clinton received the award from President Petr Pavel at a special ceremony at Prague Castle on Tuesday.

    Bill Clinton already holds the highest Czech state distinction, the Order of the White Lion, which he received in 1998 from then Czech president Vaclav Havel for having assisted the country’s admission to the Western fold of nations and significantly increased its security.

    The Order of T. G. Masaryk is awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions to the development of democracy, humanity and human rights or to foreign nationals who have contributed to fostering good relations with the country. Among the foreign nationals who received the award are the former Irish president Mary Robinson, former US foreign policy adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, and former US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.

  • 03/12/2024

    Czechia is marking the 25th anniversary of the country’s accession to NATO. The milestone event in the country’s history is the main focus of a conference at Prague Castle titled “Our Security Cannot be Taken for Granted”.

    The main speakers at the conference are the former US president Bill Clinton, who significantly assisted Czechia’s accession to the alliance, former NATO chiefs Javier Solana and Lord George Robertson, Czech President Petr Pavel, Prime Minister Petr Fiala and the Czech minister of defense, Jana Černochová.

    In his opening address, Prime Minister Fiala said that the day Czechia joined NATO was one of the most important days in the country’s modern history, a day that marked a turning point for the country’s security. He said Czechia was committed to making an active contribution to the alliance and to help counter the growing security threats that have emerged. The prime minister emphasized that Czechia was now contributing 2 percent of GDP towards defense and was actively helping Ukraine to help resist the Russian aggression.

    Former US President Bill Clinton, who significantly assisted NATO’s expansion eastward during his tenure in office, said the move had been a good investment that significantly strengthened NATO. He thanked the Czech Republic for providing military assistance to Ukraine and for taking in a great many Ukrainian refugees to ease the country’s plight.

    Former NATO chief George Robertson warned that if Russia prevails in Ukraine, it will not stop there. He said Ukraine is fighting not just for itself, but for the Western democracies and for western values so it was essential that NATO provide the invaded country with all possible means to defend itself.

    The Czech Republic became a member of NATO on 12 March 1999. The anniversary was also commemorated by a flypast of fighter jets over Prague.

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