Daily news summary
Foreign Minister says statements in interview about EU taken out of context
Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek has warned that the European Union needs to learn from Brexit and needs to listen more to its citizens or risk falling apart. He made the statement in an interview for the financial daily Hospodářské noviny published on Monday. In the interview, Mr Zaorálek was also quoted by the paper as saying the EU needed to control the movement of labour in the 27-member bloc. But on Monday, Mr Zaorálek issued a response saying that his words had been taken out of context by the daily, affirming that he was a supporter of the freedom of movement of labour in the EU. Opposition party TOP 09 had taken issue with the interview as published saying that restrictions on the movement of labour would only hurt the Czech economy.
Office for the Protection of Competition fines City of Prague over Troja Bridge
The Office for the Protection of Competition in the Czech Republic has fined the City of Prague 11 million crowns for mistakes connected to a public tender for the construction of Troja Bridge, which was built as part of Prague’s Blanka tunnel complex. In a press release, the bureau said that the bridge eventually built differed substantially in design from the former plans and cost almost three times the original estimated cost of 500 million crowns. The Office for the Protection of Competition repeatedly dealt with the case and Monday’s decision is final, bureau chairman Petr Rafaj confirmed.
Christian Democrats and STAN coalition could play role in forming next government, say analysts
The Christian Democrats and the STAN party of mayors and independents could play an important role in forming the next government, political analysts have told the Czech News Agency. The parties agreed at the weekend on running together in the parliamentary elections in October and will together need to equal or surpass a joint-10 percent threshold to make it into the Chamber of Deputies. Political scientists likewise suggested to ČTK that the move was also a gamble: a poll last Friday by the STEM agency had STAN polling at around 2.5 percent and the Christian Democrats, the junior party in the current government, at around 7.6.
Monday 25th anniversary of opening of country’s first McDonald’s
Monday is the 25th anniversary of the opening of the first branch of the fast food chain McDonald’s in the then Czechoslovakia. An estimated 11,000 people turned up for the opening of the company’s first outlet on Prague’s Vodičkova street on 20 March 1992, iDnes.cz wrote. Visiting McDonald’s was for many a rare treat in the beginning, with hamburgers costing 19 crowns compared to 25 crowns today.
Plzeň return to top of league after win over Karviná
Viktoria Plzeň have regained top position in Czech soccer’s top division. The West Bohemian side leapfrogged Slavia Prague into first place after a 3:2 away win over Karviná on Sunday. The winning goal in that game came in the 89th minute. Slavia had previously dropped two points after a 1:1 away draw with Slovan Liberec.
NHL: Plekanec breaks scoring drought
Tomáš Plekanec broke a two-month drought and scored his eighth goal of the season in the Montreal Canadiens’ 4-1 win against the Ottawa Senators. He scored just 28 seconds into the match, picking up and slotting the rebound from an Andrej Markov shot seconds earlier. Plekanec, who is 34, missed three matches in March due to injury. Montreal are currently top in the Atlantic division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.
Weather
Tuesday should be mostly cloudy with a chance of rain and daytime temperatures of around 14 degrees Celsius.
