• Polls open for 2nd round of Senate elections
    11/12/2004

    Polls in the Czech Republic opened on two o'clock Friday for the second week in a row for the 2nd round of Senate elections; in the run-off Czechs will be decide who gets elected to one third of the country's Upper House. The election will determine whether parties that are in the opposition in the Chamber of Deputies, the Civic Democrats and the Communists, can gain a majority in the Senate. Polls will close on Saturday at two in the afternoon.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Sobotka recommends selling Telecom majority stake on capital markets
    11/12/2004

    Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has recommended the government sell the 51.1 majority stake it holds in the country's dominant fixed-line operator Cesky Telecom on the capital markets, rather than holding a new tender to choose a single buyer. The government is to decide the issue next Tuesday. Mr Sobotka outlined his stance in a document sent to the cabinet describing the political and economic transparency - as well as efficiency - of selling on the capitals markets, an option which does not need approval by the European Commission. Opponents of the plan, however, say it is far from certain investors will be interested in buying up such a large amount of Telecom stocks: excessive availability could consequently drive share prices down.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Foreign Minister: Yasser Arafat played big role in Palestine's history
    11/11/2004

    The Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda has said the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has played a big role in the history of Palestine and that he will be greatly missed by the Palestinian people. Mr Svoboda added that the Nobel Peace Prize winner can be regarded as a controversial figure because he was connected with the complex issue of the Middle East conflict. The foreign minister will attend Mr Arafat's funeral in Cairo on Friday. In the 1970s and 1980s communist Czechoslovakia provided political and financial support to the Palestine Liberation Organisation, as well as arms and military training. Mr Arafat visited communist Czechoslovakia on ten occasions.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Senate discusses absentee ballots for Czechs living abroad
    11/11/2004

    The upper house of the Czech Parliament, the Senate, is discussing an amendment to the election law which should enable Czechs living abroad to take part in elections to the lower house of parliament by sending absentee ballots. The amendment would also concern Czech citizens living in the Czech Republic. According to estimates, there are between 250.000 and 300.000 Czechs living outside the Czech Republic.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • CEZ to buy 3 Bulgarian power distribution companies
    11/11/2004

    The Bulgarian government has approved a draft privatisation contract for the sale of three power distribution companies to the Czech power utility CEZ. The Czech power producer is supposed to pay over 280 million euros for a 67-percent stake in the distribution companies in the capital Sofia, the city of Pleven and in the Sofia region. The head of CEZ, Martin Roman, said the purchase was a milestone in the development of CEZ and the Czech energy industry. He said it was the first step to becoming a leader on the Central and Eastern European electricity market.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Poll: Czechs want reform of health care and social sector
    11/11/2004

    A poll carried out by the Stem agency suggests that most Czechs want the government to immediately start a fundamental reform of the health care and social areas. In the poll, about 60 percent of respondents voiced the view that the cabinet would finally have to resort to deep cuts in the health care and social areas. Although several health ministers have submitted their ideas of the reform, none of them has been accepted. The current Health Minister Milada Emmerova wants to present her draft reform at the beginning of next week.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Football federation official steps down after match fixing scandal
    11/11/2004

    The vice president of the Czech Republic's football federation, Milan Brabec, stood down on Thursday after being heavily implicated in a match fixing scandal that has rocked Czech football. However, he denied any wrongdoing. Mr Brabec's position became untenable after police taped telephone conversations between him and Ivan Hornik, the former manager of the club Viktoria Zizkov. Mr Brabec, the then head of the federation's referee commission, and Mr Hornik were heard arranging referees for matches involving the club in a bid to fix results during the 2003/2004 first division season. The match fixing scandal in the Czech Republic erupted in May when police charged Jaroslav Hastik, the sporting director of FC Synot, with trying to bribe match officials. Around 30 referees were then charged with attempting to fix matches as a result of evidence from phone tapping by the police.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Government to support EU accession negotiations with Turkey
    11/10/2004

    The government has decided that Czech diplomacy will support the launch of negotiations on Turkey's accession to the European Union. The Prime Minister Stanislav Gross will present the Czech stand at the EU summit in December which is to make a final decision on the start of the integration process with Turkey. However, the Czech government along with representatives of the European Commission stresses that Ankara must fulfil all membership criteria and there is no automatic guarantee that the talks will result in EU admission. Turkey has sought to become an EU member since 1963. Europe however criticises the country for its treatment of women and the Kurdish ethnic minority.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Government approves flu emergency measures
    11/10/2004

    The government has approved a crisis plan for the eventuality of a global flu epidemic. Although no new virus strain has been detected, scientists are worried that a bird flu virus could mutate and spread on to humans. In case a new variety of the flu virus occurs, Czech doctors will distribute anti-viral drugs until a vaccine is developed for the mutated virus. Flu epidemics occur every year but every 30 to 40 years the virus changes to the extent that existing vaccines cannot prevent the illness. The last such epidemic was in 1968.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Ombudsman's office reports forty new cases of alleged coercive sterilisation
    11/10/2004

    The office of the Czech ombudsman says it has evidence of 40 new cases of alleged coercive sterilisation of Roma women - more than a third of them performed before 1989. The office is now gathering documentation which will be handed over to the Health Ministry. The first reports of alleged cases of coercive sterilisation appeared in September. The ombudsman Otakar Motejl appointed an expert commission to look into the matter. It is now to assess whether the cases of sterilisation were in accordance with Czech law and medical ethics.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

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