• Tough security measures remain in place
    09/26/2006

    Tougher security measures remain in place around key sites in Prague as the country's intelligence services investigate the heightened treat of a terrorist attack. The government introduced the measures on Saturday night on the grounds of what it said was "the most serious threat of a terrorist attack the country had ever faced". Prague's mayor Pavel Bem told the press on Tuesday that the extraordinary measures would last for at least one week. There is speculation that the terrorist threat is linked to the arrest of four men in Norway who are suspected of planning terrorist attacks on the US and Izraeli embassies in Oslo.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Mlada Fronta Dnes explores possible terrorist link
    09/26/2006

    The Czech daily Mlada Fronta Dnes suggests in its Tuesday edition that one of the four men arrested in Norway - a Pakistani with Norwegian citizenship - had close links with a Kosovo Albanian drug dealer Princ Dobrosi who was arrested in Prague and extradited to Norway in 1999. He was released from jail early for good behaviour and often visits the Czech capital where his wife and children have permanent residence. Dobrosi allegedly met with one of the four terrorist suspects in Prague over the summer. The authorities have refused to comment on a possible connection.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Former STB agents still working in Czech police force
    09/26/2006

    The Interior Ministry has for the first time admitted that some 800 agents of the former communist secret service are still working in the country's police force. The new interior minister Ivan Langer said that he wants all former StB officers to leave the police as soon as possible. He plans to use a new civil service law which is to take effect on January 1 2007 to carry out the planned personnel changes. The former interior minister Frantisek Bublan has criticized Mr. Langer's plan saying that the people in question had been given a chance to serve the new democracy and that sacking them 17 years after the collapse of the communist regime seemed unjust.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • New Czech government to ask Parliament for confidence vote on October 3rd
    09/26/2006

    The new Czech government will ask Parliament for a vote of confidence on Tuesday, October 3rd. The minority Civic Democrat cabinet headed by Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek was appointed to office on September 4th and in line with Czech legislation has 30 days in which to ask Parliament for a vote of confidence. Political analysts predict that its chances of gaining support are slim since at present it can only rely on its own 81 deputies. Intense behind the scenes negotiations are now underway to win support from other parties. The cabinet would need 101 votes to win support.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech diplomat slams EC for Schengen delay
    09/26/2006

    Jan Kohout, the Czech Republic's ambasador to the EU, accused the European Commission on Tuesday of deceiving the bloc's 10 new member states over the timing of their entry into the EU's Schengen border free zone. The Commission said earlier this month that the 10 new states' entry into the Schengen area, originally scheduled for October 2007, would be delayed by at least a year. Mr. Kohout rejected the Commission's argument that the delay was due to technical difficulties in setting up a new police data base, saying opening borders was a political issue and the delay reflected "the political views in some member states." The Czech diplomat said the EU must keep the October 2007 date or risk losing public confidence among people in the new EU states.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Transparency on corruption in political parties
    09/26/2006

    The Czech branch of Transparency International says that the roots of corruption in the Czech Republic are embedded in the workings of Czech political parties. In a study published on Tuesday the Czech branch of the international watchdog criticizes the lack of transparency in the system of funding of political parties, the high level of immunity which parliament deputies and senators benefit from and the low effectiveness of criminal investigations against politicians. Transparency claims that Czech law-makers can often influence the investigation into their own criminal activities.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech and Austrian border guards start joint patrols
    09/26/2006

    Czech and Austrian border guards have started joint patrols of the two country's common border. This form of cooperation enables them to move freely over a ten-kilometre zone on both sides of the border and should improve their chances of detaining criminals and foreign migrants. The border guards have had to pass tests in the other country's language and laws.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Government approves state budget for 2007
    09/25/2006

    The government has approved a state budget proposal for 2007 with a deficit of 91.3 billion crowns, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told reporters on Monday afternoon after an extraordinary meeting of the cabinet at Kolodeje Chateau outside Prague. The budget has yet to be approved by the lower house of parliament.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Social Democrats criticise intelligence service head dismissal
    09/25/2006

    The opposition Social Democrats have said that the Civic Democrat minority cabinet of Mirek Topolanek jeopardised the country's security when it recalled Karel Randak from the post of civil intelligence service director last week. The Social Democrats say that the government destabilised the whole intelligence system in a situation when the country is facing a terrorist threat. Social Democrat chairman Jiri Paroubek said on Monday that his party's deputies would demand explanation at Wednesday's lower house session.

    The Czech capital, Prague, is in its third day of a high-alert security watch. Special security measures were enacted on Saturday, after the Czech cabinet decided to increase security measures in the capital because of a possible terrorist threat. Prague's Ruzyne airport has implemented special security measures and the city centre and other possible targets are also being patrolled by additional specialised police units.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Woman loses discrimination case
    09/25/2006

    A Prague district court has rejected the complaint by 51-year-old economist Marie Causevicova against her employer, the Prazska teplarenska heating utility, in which she accused her former employer of discrimination against her on the basis of gender. The court did not support her demand for public apology in the media and financial compensation. In what is probably the first gender discrimination case on the Czech labour market, Ms Causevicova accused the company of unequal treatment in the selection of a candidate for the post of financial director. The post went to a man who Ms Causevicova says was less qualified than her. Ms Causevicova has appealed against the verdict.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

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