Prague, May 10 (CTK) – The Czech cabinet approved today the budget and programme of the celebrations of next year’s key anniversaries such as 100 years from the birth of Czechoslovakia, 50 years from the Prague Spring reform movement and 25 years from the foundation of the Czech Republic.
The total budget of a variety of commemorative events is 400 million crowns, 88 million of which will be spent this year already, the cabinet decided.
A total of 172 events are to be held, including 52 in cooperation with Slovaks, who formed a joint state with the Czechs from 1918 to 1992.
“The remembrance of the significant anniversaries linked to our modern statehood is a unique opportunity for an intensive revival and deepening of our collective historical and cultural memory, and boosting our identity,” a government document says about the plan approved today.
The highest number of projects, 66, will be staged by the Defence Ministry.
The highest budget increase for this purpose, an additional 180 million crowns, will go to the Culture Ministry.
Further money will go to offices and institutions such as the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Regional Development Ministry, the Education Ministry and the Academy of Sciences.
The crucial event will be a joint Czech-Slovak exhibition to be held in the National Museum in Prague.
($1=24.497 crowns)
