News

The Czech government will appeal the arbitration ruling in its dispute with Diag Human, a company trading in blood plasma, according to which the Czech Republic is to pay some nine billion crowns in compensation for having robbed the firm of lucrative business deals. In 1992, then Health Minister Martin Bojar dissuaded other European companies from doing business with Diag Human and the firm pressed charges. A court ruled that the Czech Republic should pay damages and apologise publicly. The state has subsequently appealed the ruling unsuccessfully on several occasions. Under Czech law, after an arbitration ruling is issued, the parties involved can submit a proposal for it to be reviewed by other arbitrators.

The Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has called the Russian invasion of Georgia a violation of international law. The comments came as he attended an emergency summit of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels designed to address the current crisis in Georgia. The Czech Foreign Minister also pledged to persuade the Czech government to provide 150 million crowns in aid for Georgia. The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also attended the summit, pressing European countries to adopt a tougher line against Russia. One proposed measure was freezing the six-year-old NATO-Russia Council, which unites 27 governments for discussions about issues such as international security and counter-terrorism. However, members at today’s meeting pulled in various directions – with some favouring a tougher line, while others urging caution against “knee-jerk” reactions. The Czech Republic is believed to favour a tougher line against Russia. Following the meeting, Condoleezza Rice is set to visit Warsaw to sign a missile-defence agreement with that country – a move which Russia believes is a deliberate provocation.

For the last six months, the Czech crown has topped lists of the world’s fastest strengthening currencies. Now, in a stark reversal, the Czech crown has flipped to being the second fastest weakening currency in the world – second only to the currency of Zimbabwe, according to new data from the Czech National Bank. In late July, the Czech crown reached a peak against the Euro trading at less than 23 crowns to 1 Euro, amidst increasing concerns that the strong currency was beginning to damage the country’s economy. Since that time, the currency has fallen to around 24.30. However, analysts still note that the Czech currency is relatively strong, and the recent sharp fall has only lessened this slightly – further strong falls are not forecast for the remainder of the year.

The Czech environmental NGO Hnutí Duha has made a formal complaint to the European Commission about Austrian logging practices on the southern Czech border. The organization believes that the Šumava region has been severely damaged by Austrian logging their side of the state boundary. The NGO has complained that the Austrian land-owners in the area, a company called Schlägl have created vast swathes of bare land both in Austria as well as in neighbouring Germany that literally directly frame the Czech border. While the Czech side is a protected national park, much of the land south of the border is not protected.