News

Prague’s Barrandov Film Studios are celebrating 75 years of operation on Thursday. On January 25, 1933 the filming of the studios’ first motion picture ‘Vražda v Ostrovní ulici’ (Murder on Ostrovní Street) began. The film premiered some two months later, and received a good deal of critical acclaim. The movie was the first ever Czech film to have both dialogue and music, thanks to the studios’ then state-of-the-art equipment. In more recent years, films such as James Bond – Casino Royale have been shot on location at Barrandov.

The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, says suggestions that a deal to allow a US radar base to be built in the Czech Republic could be announced in the very near future are premature. A Pentagon spokesperson was quoted on Tuesday as saying a treaty could be agreed in the next few weeks. However, Mr Topolánek told reporters on Wednesday that it would not be possible to comment on the progress of negotiations until after further meetings between both sides next week. He repeated earlier comments that Prague was interested in a quality rather than a speedy deal with Washington. The US would like to build a radar base in central Bohemia as part of a global anti-missile defence system. Prime Minister Topolánek had previously said the Czech Parliament would vote on the matter after a NATO summit in April. His government backs the US plan; polls suggest up to 70 percent of Czech citizens are opposed.

The government has approved a bill aimed at settling property disputes between the state and Czech churches. Under the new law, the state would pay CZK 83 billion in compensation for church property nationalised during the communist regime. With interest, the sum will reach almost CZK 270 billion, the Czech News Agency reported. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek described the move as an historical breakthrough and unique opportunity, though the head of the Czech Roman Catholic church, Archbishop Miloslav Vlk, has said the settlement mainly favours the state. If approved by parliament and signed by the president, the bill would take effect as of 2009.

The organiser of a neo-Nazi march banned by the authorities in Plzeň was a member of the governing Civic Democrats, the news website iDnes.cz reported. A spokesperson for the party said Václav Bureš had been expelled in January, after it emerged that he was behind the march, which was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the first transport of Jews from the city in 1942. The far-right gathering was banned last Thursday, two days before it was due to take place. In the end around 200 neo-Nazis attended a demonstration in Prague, which passed off peacefully.