• 04/21/2007

    Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets are continuing to patrol Czech airspace despite the fact that Sweden has grounded all its Gripen planes after an accident involving one of the aircraft on Thursday. A Swedish air force pilot was catapulted from his plane two days ago, when his ejector seat was activated for no apparent reason. No one was hurt in the incident. The Swedish defence ministry said that it had informed the Czech Republic of the accident, but that it was up to the Czech government to decide on its own response to the incident. A Czech defence ministry spokesman said that he saw no reason why the aircraft couldn't still be used, but added that they were being kept informed of any developments in Sweden's investigation of the matter. The Gripen fighter jets have been in the news in the Czech Republic lately amid allegations that the British-Swedish consortium that makes them bribed Czech public officials to win a government tender for the aircraft.

    Author: Coilin O'Connor
  • 04/21/2007

    Czech president Vaclav Klaus has said that his critical attitude to the European Union is slowly becoming commonplace among Europe's political classes. Speaking to Mlada fronta Dnes on Saturday, the notoriously Eurosceptic president told the newspaper that his opinions on Europe have now become "mainstream", citing the Netherlands emphatic rejection of the EU Constitution two years ago as an example. In the same interview, Mr Klaus told the daily that in addition to fundamental changes in the European Union, he would also like to see Czechs hold a referendum on the adoption of the euro. "Every currency is a huge emblem of the state," he said, "and in this sense, people should make the decision whether they want to lose this immensely significant symbol."

    Author: Coilin O'Connor
  • 04/21/2007

    The Czech foreign ministry has said that George Bush will most likely visit Prague in early June. A spokeswoman for the ministry said that the US president will probably be in Prague on the fourth and fifth of June. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice confirmed the president's visit after meeting with Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg in Washington on Friday. Mr Schwarzenberg was in the US to discuss US-Czech relations as well as a proposed US radar base on Czech territory. Speaking alongside Ms Rice ahead of their meeting, Mr Schwarzenberg voiced support for the US plan, while Ms Rice said anti-missile projects were a key element of efforts to counter both terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Public opinion in the Czech Republic remains mixed over the idea of the Czechs hosting a US base and it is hoped that the American president's visit will boost support for the idea.

    Before meeting with Mr Schwarzenberg, Ms Rice described the Czech Republic as a "good ally" of the US and praised the country for its participation in foreign missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. She also praised the Czech government for its stance on dictatorial regimes in Belarus, Burma and Cuba.

    Author: Coilin O'Connor
  • 04/21/2007

    Small groups of right-wing extremists held demonstrations in Prague and the central Bohemian town of Kladno on Saturday - one day after the 118th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler. Around fifty skinheads from the ultra-right "Patriotic Front" congregated at Prague's Zelivskeho metro station and marched to the grave of General Radola Gayda - the head of the Czech fascist movement in the 1930s. When they got there, many were angered to find the headstone overturned. The event's organisers blamed left-wing activists for vandalising the grave.

    Meanwhile, several dozen demonstrators from the far-right "Autonomous Nationalists of Central Bohemia" also held a demonstration in Kladno. Around forty anarchists held a counter demonstration in the town at roughly the same time. Hundreds of extra police were deployed on the streets of Kladno to prevent clashes between the two groups.

    Author: Coilin O'Connor
  • 04/21/2007

    Dry weather and high daytime temperatures have prompted meteorologists to issue a fire warning. The areas most at risk of a fire breaking out are Prague, Central Bohemia, and the Usti and South Moravia regions. Hikers and campers in the countryside have been recommended not to make campfires and to refrain from smoking. They have also been asked to not to use cigarette lighters, camping gas-cookers and other implements that can produce a naked flame. The warning is expected to stay in place until Tuesday, when a cold front should bring rain to the Czech Republic and thus reduce the risk of conflagrations.

    Author: Coilin O'Connor
  • 04/21/2007

    The Communist Party's Vaclav Homolka has been elected as the new senator for the Chomutov region after the second round of voting. Mr Homolka won more than half of the votes cast, finishing about 10 percent ahead of his nearest rival Jan Rehak from the Civic Democrats. Only 9.73 percent of those eligible to vote actually participated in the poll, making it the lowest ever turnout in the history of Senate elections. Mr Homolka will replace the independent senator Petr Skala who resigned his seat earlier this year for health reasons.

    Author: Coilin O'Connor
  • 04/21/2007

    Hundreds of members of the public visited Czech Radio on Saturday during the station's Open Day. Those attending the event had a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at activities in Czech Radio and were given a tour of the historical radio building, which was a focal point for Czech resistance to foreign occupiers during the Prague uprising against the Nazis in 1945 and the Russian occupation of 1968. Staff of Radio Prague were also on hand to introduce visitors to Czech Radio's foreign service.

    Author: Coilin O'Connor
  • 04/20/2007

    Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington to discuss US-Czech relations as well as a proposed US radar base on Czech territory. Speaking alongside Ms Rice ahead of their meeting, Mr Schwarzenberg voiced support for the US plan, while the US secretary of state said anti-missile projects were a key element of efforts to counter both terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Washington announced in January plans to extend its still-unproven missile shield into Europe to counter potential missile attacks from what it calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea. The radar base hosted by the Czech Republic would complement an installation in Poland manned with ten interceptor rockets. Public opinion in the Czech Republic remains mixed over the idea of the Czechs hosting a US base.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 04/20/2007

    The Czech military is considering sending a special reconstruction team to Afghanistan that would operate in the province of Logar, southeast of the capital Kabul, in 2009. Currently, another Czech reconstruction team is operating in the north of the country, involving some 83 personnel cooperating with Danish and German soldiers. Deputy Defence Minister Martin Bartak said on Friday that the military was also considering plans for again deploying elite special forces from the Czech Republic to Afghanistan (in 2008). Earlier Czech special forces served in the combat zone in Afghanistan - taking part in missions against Taliban militia as part of the US-led operation "Enduring Freedom".

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 04/20/2007

    Czech trade unions have come out resolutely against the government's planned fiscal reforms: the leadership of the CMKOS trade union umbrella organisation announced on Friday that reforms proposed by the current centre-right cabinet would worsen conditions for average or below-average income earners. The group's chairman, Milan Stech, also said that the government's plans would not help cut the public budget deficit, and said a broader public debate and political consensus was needed on the issue. It was in early April that Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's government first presented its draft package of reforms aimed at lowering taxes and cutting public spending. The draft is set to be debated in the Chamber of Deputies this June.

    Author: Jan Velinger

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