• Spidla promotes trade relations during two-day visit to Romania
    03/15/2004

    Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla is currently on a two-day visit to Romania aimed at strengthening bilateral political and business relations. At a meeting with his counterpart Adrian Nastase, Mr Spidla offered to help Romania prepare for EU membership by sharing Czech experiences. The two politicians also agreed that there was room for more trade. The Czech government's CzechTrade agency promoting foreign trade used the occasion of Mr Spidla's visit to open its new office in Bucharest. On Tuesday, Mr Spidla plans to meet with members of the Czech community and attend a Czech-Romanian business forum. He is scheduled to leave for Macedonia on Tuesday evening.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Terrorist attack on Madrid not to speed up plans to re-locate RFE/RL
    03/15/2004

    The terrorist attack in Madrid will not speed up plans to move the Prague-based headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) out of the city centre. According to Sonia Winter, spokesperson for the US funded station, there are also no plans to tighten security around the building, which sits next to the National Museum at the top of Wenceslas Square. The Czech government discussed re-locating the building after the September 11 attacks on the United States for fear that attacks against US interests around the world would follow.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Number of law suits filed against the Czech Republic on increase
    03/15/2004

    The number of law suits filed by Czech citizens against the Czech Republic with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is on a dramatic rise. A government representative at the European Court, Vit Schorm, told the CTK news agency on Monday that, since 1993, the Czech Republic has spent 17 million crowns on disputes with citizens in the European Court. Compared to the number of suits lodged in 2002, there were some 88% more filed against the country in 2003.Out of the fifteen cases the state has lost, only two have been resolved so far.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Police to tighten border controls and reinforce patrols
    03/14/2004

    Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross said that border checks and conditions for granting visas to citizens from risk countries would be tightened in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Madrid on Thursday for which the international terrorist network Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility. Mr. Gross said that the police would start using dogs in street patrols capable of detecting explosives. He added however that the secret services had no indications of a terrorist attack being prepared against the Czech Republic. Mr. Gross also said that people from his ministry and the secret services would meet more frequently to assess gathered intelligence. Mr. Gross has also called on the public to show comprehension for the tightened security measures and to try to cooperate with security forces.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • SocDem may seek Communist support for fight against grey economy
    03/14/2004

    Disputes over a series of bills aimed at fighting tax evasions threaten to break the governing coalition. They include the introduction of property declarations obligatory for people with income over a certain level, labelling of alcohol, and cash registers. The senior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, want the push the new laws through regardless of the opinion of the two smaller parties. The Freedom Union and the Christian Democrats say the bills go too far in some respects and want them revised to comply with the government manifesto, otherwise, they threaten to leave the coalition. The opposition Communist party said on Sunday it was ready to vote for the Social Democrat version in Parliament.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • Police stop neo-Nazi march, arrests 23
    03/14/2004

    The police have arrested more than 20 neo-Nazi skinheads in the northern town of Most and charged them with promoting an ideology aimed at suppression of human rights and freedoms. Some 50 skinheads marched through Most with lit torches, chanting Nazi slogans, to mark the 66th anniversary of the German annexation of Austria. The group was heading for a housing estate inhabited mainly by Romanies. The police seized knives, iron rods and telescopic truncheons from the skinheads.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • PM Spidla calls on Czechs to pay honour to victims of Madrid attacks
    03/13/2004

    Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has called on Czech citizens to pay honour to the victims of the Madrid terrorist attacks by holding three minutes of silence on Monday at noon. According to the latest information, 200 people died and more than 1,400 were wounded in Thursday's attacks on packed Madrid commuter trains. On Monday and Tuesday, Czech citizens will be able to sign a condolence book at the Spanish Embassy in Prague. A solemn mass in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks will be celebrated at Prague's St Tomas Church on Tuesday afternoon.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • EU anti-torture committee criticises treatment of detainees and prisoners in the Czech Republic
    03/13/2004

    The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has criticised the Czech Republic for inappropriate treatment of detainees and prisoners. The committee demands the elimination of certain excesses in the police treatment of detained persons and abandoning an unnecessarily tough treatment of prisoners. In its latest report on the Czech Republic, the committee points to numerous accusations concerning police brutality during arresting and interrogation. It says that Romanies, foreigners and young people are most often subject to harsh treatment. The Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee also calls on Czech authorities to improve treatment of prisoners and to make further efforts to eliminate overcrowding in prisons.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • Oil, food drive Czech Feb industry prices up
    03/13/2004

    Czech producer prices grew by a faster-than-expected 0.3 percent in February, up from 0.8 percent in January, driven mainly by chemicals, oil refining and food industries. The Czech Statistics Office said on Friday said that the result put the year-on-year growth of industrial producer prices at 1.5 percent down from January's 1.6 percent. Agricultural prices alone grew by more than 3 percent, which analyst predict will stimulate growth of consumer food prices.
    Author: Vladimír Tax

  • European Parliament expresses concern over alleged child prostitution on Czech-German border
    03/11/2004

    The European Parliament has expressed concern over alleged trafficking in human beings, especially children, at the Czech-German border and called on the Czech government to support aid programmes targeted at the victims. At the same time the EU body admitted it had no hard evidence of the existence of child prostitution in the Czech Republic. In its report on Thursday on the state of preparedness for EU membership of the ten countries about to join the EU, the European Parliament gave the Czech Republic good marks overall, but beside the alleged problem of child prostitution, MEPs also voiced disquiet at the European Commission's finding that the Czech Republic is not yet able to adopt EU standards in food-processing and urged immediate action so as not to endanger European consumers.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

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