• Czech ambassador to Brussels Jan Kohout is 'chief candidate' to take over as Prime Minister
    04/09/2005

    Meanwhile, Mr Gross confirmed on Saturday that the "chief candidate" to fill his shoes is the current Czech ambassador to the European Union, Jan Kohout. The two men had held private talks on Friday about the possibility of Mr Kohout returning from Brussels to head up the new "pro-European" government, a prime task of which would be to push through ratification of the European Constitution.
    Author: Brian Kenety

  • Sobotka and Skromach preferred Social Democratic party candidates to replace Gross
    04/09/2005

    According to a new poll by the STEM agency, however, the majority of voters are not in favour of the three-party coalition continuing in government. Sixty-one percent of those polled said would prefer for early elections to be held instead. When asked who should be the next prime minister, given that the coalition parties have agreed it will be a Social Democrat party member, 28 percent named the current Minister of Finance, Bohuslav Sobotka, as their choice, 18 percent said Zdenek Skromach, who is the minister of Labour and Social Affairs, while only 17 percent said they thought Stanislav Gross should remain in his post.
    Author: Brian Kenety

  • Social Democrats would finish third in early elections
    04/09/2005

    Another opinion poll just released by the CVVM agency suggests Mr Gross's Social Democrats, with 14.5 percent support, would come third in general elections. The right-of-centre Civic Democrats have 31 percent support, followed by the Communist Party with 15.5 percent.
    Author: Brian Kenety

  • Roma activists renew call for removal of 'offensive' pig farm at site of WWII labour camp
    04/09/2005

    On the occasion of the 'International Day of Roma', Czech Roma leaders on Friday issued a renewed call for the removal of a pig farm at the site of World War II labour camp where thousands of Roma, also known as Gypsies, were interred, and several hundred died. Roma activist Ondrej Gina said that the new petition would demand that Czech authorities separate off a memorial to those who died at Lety camp from the pig farm, which was built under communism in the 1970s. Only one in 20 Czech Roma survived the war. The petitioners say the presence of the pig farm at Lety is an insult to the memory of those who were killed.
    Author: Brian Kenety

  • Official day of mourning for Pope John Paul II marked in Czech Republic
    04/08/2005

    Flags have been flown at half-mast and a minute's silence held around the Czech Republic on an official day of mourning for Pope John Paul II, who was buried on Friday. The pontiff's funeral was attended by the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda and lower house chairman Lubomir Zaoralek. It is believed that a few thousand Czech Roman Catholics also travelled to the Vatican for the funeral.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech cardinal to say mass at beginning of election of new pope
    04/08/2005

    The Vatican announced on Thursday that the election of a new pope will begin on April 18 with a mass served by Czech cardinal Tomas Spidlik. Cardinal Spidlik has spent most of his life in Rome, and was close to Pope John Paul II. The only Czech among the 117 cardinals who will elect a new pope is Prague Archbishop Miloslav Vlk.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Gross meets diplomat tipped to replace him as prime minister
    04/08/2005

    Prime Minister Stanislav Gross has held talks with Jan Kohout, the Czech ambassador to the European Union. The latter said after Friday's meeting that the two men had discussed the possibility of Mr Kohout, a career diplomat, replacing Mr Gross as prime minister.

    On Thursday the prime minister said he would step aside to allow a new government of his Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union to form under a different leader.

    Mr Gross has been under pressure for some months over a scandal involving his family's finances, and his government is hanging by a thread, with several ministers having resigned and more threatening to follow.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Civic Democrats still leading in opinion polls
    04/08/2005

    An opinion poll just released by the CVVM agency suggests Mr Gross's Social Democrats, with 14.5 percent support, would come third in general elections. The right-of-centre Civic Democrats have 31 percent support, followed by the Communist Party with 15.5 percent.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Unemployment falls slightly to 9.4 percent
    04/08/2005

    Unemployment in the Czech Republic stood at 9.4 percent in March, according to figures just released by the Labour Ministry. The new figures represent a slight drop on February, when unemployment was at 9.6 percent. Some 540,000 Czechs are now out of work. The number of applicants per job is now 10.1, the lowest number in three years.

    Meanwhile, year-on-year inflation in March fell to 1.5 percent, the lowest rate since December 2003.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Health Ministry unhappy with sale of cigarettes at post offices
    04/08/2005

    The Health Ministry has become involved in a dispute with Ceska Posta (Czech Post), which recently started selling cigarettes at some post offices, TV Nova reported on Thursday. Czech Post is wholly owned by the state, which campaigns against smoking. However, the Ministry concedes that selling cigarettes at post offices does not contravene the law.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

Pages