• 10/23/2007

    In a related development, Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar said on Tuesday that he expected talks on the radar between Prague and Washington to last for several more months. Mr. Pojar said that while the Czech side had no interest in artificially prolonging the negotiations the small print was important not least because it would be crucial in obtaining Parliament's approval for the project.

  • 10/23/2007

    The lower house on Tuesday approved the 2008 state budget in its first reading. The proposed budget envisages a deficit of 70.8 billion crowns (3.68 billion dollars) or 2.95 percent of total economic output. The 2008 deficit is below the 3.0 percent of gross domestic product ceiling required for adoption of the single European currency, although Prague has not yet set a target date for the switch from the crown to the euro. Lower house committees can now delve into the finer details of the budget, with a second and final, third, reading scheduled for early December.

  • 10/23/2007

    The Prague Municipal Court has struck down a city hall ban on a planned neo-Nazi march through the city's historic Jewish quarter. The march has been set to take place on November 10th, the anniversary of Kristallnacht - a notorious Nazi pogrom against Jews in Germany in 1938. It is the second time the court has ruled in the favour of the right-wing extremists, making it likely the march will now take place. In its ruling the court cited serious procedural errors on the part of the city in its attempt to ban the planned event. According to reports, both sides in the case will receive written statements from the court on Wednesday. Prague City Hall has said it is not giving up the fight and will take further steps to prevent the march taking place.

  • 10/23/2007

    A Czech national has been deported from Cuba for taking part in a conference organized by Cuban dissidents. According to the Spanish news agency EFE -two Europeans - a Czech and a Slovak - who participated in a conference on free and fair elections on the island were arrested in Santa Clara on Sunday morning and shortly after put on a plane to Paris. The Czech Embassy in Havana said it had learnt about the incident from dissident sources but had received no official information.

  • 10/23/2007

    Clients of the travel agency Sunny Days who failed to return home from a holiday in Egypt on Sunday because of a plane defect were brought home on a charter flight early on Tuesday. Close to 180 holiday makers were stuck at Hurghada Airport for close to 48 hours after the Egyptian air company Coral Blue cancelled their flight, citing an engine defect. Many of them have said they are prepared to file complaints because they received little or no help from either the airline of the Sunny Days travel agency.

  • 10/23/2007

    Dagmar Havlova, wife of the former Czech president Vaclav Havel, is to play the lead role in a film directed by Zdenek Zelenka. Mrs. Havlova who was a prominent film and stage actress before she married the former president has already made a successful theatre come-back appearing in a comedy called Park Your Car in Harvard Yard. Her new role in film is based on the real life story of a mother who lost her son in a tragic accident.

  • 10/22/2007

    The head of the Social Democratic Party's deputies' club Michal Hasek has put forward a complaint to the Constitutional Court regarding the government's public finance reforms. The reforms, passed in parliament and signed by the president, are to take effect on January 1st, 2008. The opposition Social Democrats have been critical of the government's reform package for months, not least of changes in the health care and social sectors; the party is of the view that the manner in which the proposal was debated in the lower house, including an amendment motion put forward by the prime minister, was itself "unconstitutional". The fifteen-member court has the authority to strike down legislation passed in contradiction to the constitution.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 10/22/2007

    Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has reacted to the preliminary results of early elections in Poland by saying he expects the new Polish government will push through needed reforms and will cooperate more with the EU. Mr Schwarzenberg also said he expects the new administration to be less confrontational regarding relations with Germany. According to preliminary results in Poland's election, the opposition Civic Platform (headed by Donald Tusk) won Poland's election far in front of the Law and Justice party of the Kaczynski brothers. Mr Schwarzenberg congratulated the victors, saying the result in Poland showed a shift back towards the centre on the part of voters.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 10/22/2007

    The government has approved a plan to reduce the number of Czech troops in Iraq from about 100 to 20 next year, Czech Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova has announced. The reduction in forces should take effect from July 2008. The decision by the centre-right government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek must still be approved by both chambers of parliament. Most of the current Czech contingent is deployed around Basra in southern Iraq, where one of its main tasks is to guard the international base not far from the city. The proposal to cut the number of Czech troops was raised earlier this month by Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 10/22/2007

    The US Embassy in Prague has reported that US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has arrived in the Czech capital ahead of meetings with the president, prime minister and others. His plane touched down in the capital on Monday evening. On Tuesday Mr Gates will meet with Czech representatives to discuss the possibility of a US radar base on Czech soil - part of a broader US defense shield in Europe - as well as future Czech military involvement in international missions.

    Author: Jan Velinger

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