• 09/08/2002

    Czech Army chief of staff Jiri Sedivy is attending a meeting of the Military Committee of NATO in Berlin on Monday and Tuesday, to discuss preparations for the Alliance's summit in Prague in November. The Military Committee session continues in Prague on Wednesday and Thursday. The Prague summit is the first NATO summit to be held behind the Iron Curtain. It is to be attended by representatives of 19 member states and 27 countries participating in the Partnership for Peace programme. Issues the summit is expected to deal with include relationships with Russia and further expansion eastward.

    Author: Vladimír Tax
  • 09/08/2002

    The Czech Republic beat Finland 7-2 in the Ceska pojistovna Cup which is part of the Euro Hockey Tour. The Czechs are facing Sweden on Sunday night.

    Author: Vladimír Tax
  • 09/07/2002

    The tax reform proposed by the Czech cabinet to raise money to finance repairs of flood damage will face opposition in Parliament. The main opposition Civic Democrats said they would not support the government-proposed package of so-called flood taxes, claiming that the floods is only an excuse for a tax reform and that there are other ways to finance repairs of flood damage, such as revenues from privatisation. The Lower House is to vote on the proposal next Thursday. The tax reform proposal which the government will finalise on Sunday, should bring an extra 10 billion crowns to the state budget next year. The government wants to increase the consumer tax and VAT, as well as to introduce a special tax on personal income exceeding 900,000 crowns annually. The other opposition party, the Communist party, is not satisfied with

    Author: Vladimír Tax
  • 09/06/2002

    The Czech Republic has still to pass thirty European laws and a law on referendum, Justice Minister Pavel Rychetsky said on Friday. The Czech Republic is the only of the ten EU candidate countries not to have a referendum law despite the fact that the fifteen European Union members are likely to decide on the Union's enlargement at the Copenhagen summit in December and the accession treaty might be ready by January next year. Mr Rychetsky said the devastating floods had halted the normal activities of the government. The referendum bill has already been passed by the lower house and has yet to be approved by the Senate. Mr Rychetsky said, however, that differences in opinion between the two parliamentary houses were complicating the matter. The Senate is planning to submit its own bill on a one-off EU accession referendum.

  • 09/06/2002

    Insurance companies operating in the Czech Republic have increased flood damage estimates to 30.7 billion crowns. The number of claims has been reduced from 132,000 to 104,000, as registered by the Czech Insurers' Association. The overall damage caused by the floods across the Czech Republic is estimated at 90-100 billion crowns. Insurance companies expect to cover up to 1/3 of the damage. So far, insurers have paid their flood-stricken clients around 2 billion crowns, mostly in advance payments.

  • 09/06/2002

    Prague Zoo, severely damaged by the recent floods, is going to reopen to visitors on Saturday morning. People will be able to see parts of the zoo which remained untouched by water, as well as a small part of the flooded area which has been restored. The zoo is going to display photographs of the recent events and install boxes around the site where visitors can donate money towards the recovery of the zoo. Approximately 400 animals had to be relocated to other zoos around the Czech Republic after the flood which had caused the death of close to a hundred animals, mostly birds.

  • 09/05/2002

    The European Parliament has passed a majority of resolutions allowing the European Union to release 1 billion euros in post-flood aid to countries Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The parliament asked the European Commission to set-up a European Fund that would be used to help repair the devastation from floods that hit Central Europe in August. Thursday's resolution states that the billion euros needed would be released immediately, and would be taken from left-over funds from the 2002 European Union budget. The resolution also welcomed plans by European investment banks to provide cheap loans to help companies afflicted by the floods as well as to help repair damaged infrastructures.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/05/2002

    Czech President Vacav Havel has met with Austrian counter-part Thomas Klestil in the south Moravian town of Znojmo to discuss ways of solving continuing disputes in Czech-Austrian relations, disputes which include the Czech operation of the controversial nuclear power plant Temelin and the historic Benes Decrees, which sanctioned the expulsion of millions of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II. The two leaders released a statement Thursday saying historic reflection would be the basis for constructive dialogue and that it was now up to political elite to face up to the task. The statement, however, did not offer any concrete steps. The two presidents also discussed the importance of continued regional co-operation, as exemplified after last month's catastrophic floods.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/05/2002

    The threat of dangerous infections including hepatitis A, salmonella, and dysentery is expected to continue for 2-3 months in areas in the Czech Republic that were hit by last month's floods. Michael Vit, the chief health inspector of the Czech Republic told journalists on Thursday that it was therefore essential for citizens in those areas to take proper steps to safeguard their health. The chief health inspector said that all children between the ages of three and five in the flood-hit areas would receive vaccines against hepatitis A. Vit added that three weeks after the floods fears of possible epidemics in the Czech Republic remained unfounded. So far, five patients have been infected with light cases of bacterial infection in south Bohemia; while two cases of suspected hepatitis A have not yet been confirmed.

    Author: Jan Velinger
  • 09/04/2002

    The Czech Prime Minister, Vladimir Spidla, and his Polish counterpart, Leszek Miller, have said referendums in both countries on accession to the European Union should be coordinated. The two men were speaking in Warsaw on Wednesday, on what was Mr Spidla's first official trip abroad since winning elections in June. They stressed that no concrete dates for such referendums had been agreed on. At a recent meeting of the presidents of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary the idea of 'cascading referendums' was put forward; meaning that votes on joining the EU should be first held in countries where support for such a move is higher, starting with Hungary. Of the four country's, support for EU accession is lowest in the Czech Republic, with around half the electorate in favour.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

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