News

The president of the European Commission, Jose Barroso, has said the Czech Republic should set a target date for adoption of the common European currency. He made the comments in an interview for the Czech newspaper Deník. The Czech government has refused to fix a date for adopting the euro, saying it is first necessary to implement reforms and stabilise the public finances. If Poland meets its freshly announced target of joining the eurozone in 2011, all of the Czech Republic’s neighbours will be using the currency in less than two and a half years’ time.

Meanwhile, Czech business leaders, concerned by the continuing strength of the Czech crown, have called on the government to speed up the euro adoption process. The crown has risen by nearly 20-percent year-on-year towards the euro, meaning smaller profits for companies who export to eurozone states.

Two giants of Czech culture, playwright Václav Havel and film director Miloš Forman, are working together on a film about the Munich Agreement of 1938, under which the United Kingdom and France allowed Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia. Mladá fronta Dnes reported that the film is based on a novel by Georges-Marc Benamou entitled The Ghost of Munich; it describes the Munich conference from the point of view of former French prime minister Edouard Daladier. A Czech translation of the book with a foreword by Mr Havel is being released next week.

After leading the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Václav Havel became president of Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic. Miloš Forman is perhaps the most successful Czech film director, with best director Academy Awards for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus.

A new feature film about Czechoslovak soldiers who fought in the desert near the Libyan port of Tobruk in World War II goes on release in the Czech Republic on Thursday. Entitled Tobruk, it was produced and directed by Václav Marhoul and was made with support from the Czech Ministry of Defence. Mr Marhoul visited Czech troops at bases in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan in preparation for the movie, which focuses on the everyday lives of soldiers and features just one battle scene.

Czech athletes have won two more medals at the Paralympics in Beijing. Eva Berná, who is 22, came third in the F37-38 category shot put, while Martin Zvolánek, 42, took bronze in the discus F32-51 category. The Czech team have so far taken 14 medals at the Paralympics and stand at 18th in the overall medals ranking.