News

New analysis covering the Czech labour market between the years 2000 and 2007 released by the Czech Statistical Office has shown that the Czech Republic’s average nominal hourly wage grew in the Czech Republic by 41 percent in real terms – from 71.3 crowns per hour in 2000 to 117.4 crowns last year. The latter amount is the equivalent of around 7 US dollars – far lower than western European countries, the Statistical Office has noted, but higher than the majority of countries that joined the European Union in 2004. The highest average hourly wage in the EU last year was in Denmark.

Arsenal midfielder Tomáš Rosický will not be returning as yet to his team or the Czech national side, some eight months after the player was sidelined with a leg injury. The Czech media has been speculating about his eventual return as well as the potential threat to his career. It is already known that the player – normally captain of the national squad – will not play in two upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The team’s coach Petr Rada has himself stated he will only await the player’s return after Arsenal give the go-ahead.

Phone conversations recorded by the police in 2001 suggest that Civic Democrat MP and critic of the party’s leadership Vlastimil Tlustý was on the payroll of organized crime, the daily Mladá Fronta Dnes reported on Thursday. The unofficial head of Czech organized crime, František Mrázek, talked to one of his aides about paying Mr Tlustý 3 million crowns. Vlastimil Tlustý has denied any contacts with Mr Mrázek, who was murdered in 2006. He has however consistently refused to identify the lender of some 2.3 million crowns, or nearly 140,000 US dollars, which he used to build his house.

During its EU presidency in the first half of 2009, the Czech Republic will be responsible for negotiating Croatia’s entry, Cyprus’ re-unification and Serbia’s candidacy, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said in Prague on Thursday. Mr Rehn said that the ongoing negotiations with Croatia are going well but some of the key issues of the country’s accession to the EU may have to be resolved during the Czech presidency. EU candidacy could possibly be offered to Serbia during the Czech term, and Czech politicians might also take part in resolving the issue of divided Cyprus.