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On Friday the lower chamber endorsed austerity package lowering the next year’s budget deficit from original CZK 230 billion to CZK 163 billion. The move was preceded by a variety of dramatic poses that included threat, sulking, disbelief, insults and many more. First, Finance Minister Eduard Janota who put together the austerity package in order to prevent the country’s slide into debt and possibly bankruptcy announced on Wednesday he would not want to stay in his post if the package were not approved. Prime Minister of the caretaker government Jan Fischer repeatedly emphasised that approval or disapproval of the package equals confidence or no-confidence vote for the cabinet. On Wednesday party leaders came out of seven-hour-long discussion victoriously with aContinue Reading

US President Barack Obama called Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Wednesday night to tell him that the US administration decided to scrap the anti-missile shield project that would have included installing a radar in the Czech Republic. Fischer said Obama assured him that the United States “still consider the Czech Republic as one of its closest allies”. The decision, though far from surprising, created strong reactions. ODS leader Mirek Topolánek, who served as prime minister when the radar contract was signed, said the move “only whets Russia’s appetite”. ČSSD head Jiří Paroubek, on the other hand, called it a “victory of the Czech people and realistic politics”. Former Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said that if the US “does notContinue Reading

On 1 September the Constitutional Court decided to postpone the early elections scheduled for 9-10 October based on a complaint filed by an unaffiliated MP Miloš Melčák who deemed the decision of parliament to disband the lower house and call early elections unconstitutional since the disbanding can only take place when the parties fail to form cabinet three times in a row. Immediately, all parties united in attacking the Constitutional Court and an attempt at finding a way of circumventing its decision. ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek called the court “unconstitutional”. On 10 September, the court decided not to reject the complaint thus definitely disabling the early elections as it would be impossible for the court to issue judgment in time.Continue Reading

Last week Mladá fronta Dnes discovered a convicted fraudster holding high office at the Finance Ministry. Radek Šnábl, head of the Finance Ministry’s international legal department, was convicted of getting a CZK 5.5 million VAT back on a fictitious transaction in 1999. Šnábl was sentenced to a two-year suspeded sentence in April this year and he offered his resignation to the then Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, who refused it. Kalousek told Mf Dnes that the offence Šnábl committed was incomparable to the billions he saved the Czech Republic in arbitrations. Current Czech legislations does not require for convicted criminals to be obliged to leave public service as long as their superiors vouch for them. Following the recent press coverage ofContinue Reading

Justice Minister Daniela Kovářová wants to address the issue of surrogate mothers.Justice Minister Daniela Kovářová last week said she wanted to address the issue of surrogacy in the Czech legal system. Surrogacy is legal in the Czech Republic, however, there is no further legislation to deal with the legal rights of biological or surrogate mothers. Biological mothers are not guaranteed parental rights and the surrogate mother may have custody of the child she carries and delivers. Kovářová’s plan, now to be addressed by experts, would also enable surrogate mothers to be paid for carrying the baby. In Britain, for example, surrogacy is legal, but the surrogate mother is entitled only to payments covering her expenses, and it is illegal toContinue Reading

On Friday President Václav Klaus will release his latest book Modrá planeta v ohrožení (Blue Planet in Danger), which attacks what the author calls global warming alarmism. “Ecologists say the planet must be saved. Saved from what? From whom? I know one thing for sure: We must save it – and us – from them,” Mladá fronta Dnes quotes Klaus as writing. Meanwhile, in Brazil, a TV advertisement encourages people to save water by urinating in the shower. The cartoon spot (see below) depicts various characters — including Gandhi, Alfred Hitchcock, an alien and King Kong — peeing in the shower. Campaign sponsor SOS Mata Atlântica estimates that the practice could save 4,380 litres of water a year. What toContinue Reading

Last Thursday ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek visited a Kutná Hora labour office and discussed the growing unemployment numbers with local public servants. The servants mentioned Taiwanese company Foxconn, which produces LCD screens in the region and employs many Mongolian and Vietnamese workers since “Czechs are less interested in working in shifts”. In response Paroubek said that foreign workers “lower the value of work”. He went on to say: “It is unsuitable to employ people from different cultures. They will stay here afterwards. They’ll learn the language, have children, and then you have an ethnic problem”. Paroubek responded to Aktuálně.cz’s report of his statements, saying he “categorically rejects the fabricated information of some media about my allegedly ‘racist statement’”. Paroubek saidContinue Reading

Petra Paroubková, wife of ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek, has been making headlines recently. She is continuing her so-far unsuccessful fight with cartoonists and caricaturists who target her and has also launched a fight to improve her husband’s image in the media. Last Friday Paroubková asked graphic designer aTeo to remove photomontages of her, some depicting her as the heroine of the Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films. aTeo did so out of respect for her pregnancy. Previously she demanded apologies from Reflex and Mladá fronta Plus for cartoon depictions of her but failed. In the middle of July, Paroubková published an ode to her husband on her blog, in which she praised Paroubek for his attention and care. The blog wasContinue Reading

Two weeks ago the Islamic Foundation in Brno announced their wish to build a new mosque since their current one no longer meets their needs, as it lacks a study and lecture rooms. The mosque opened 11 years ago and it was the first Muslim place of prayer in the country. Today, some 120 people attend it and the number is growing. Brno Deputy Mayor Daniel Rychnovský (KDU-ČSL) said that Brno has already shown tolerance when it allowed the building of the first mosque, adding that the Muslim world is less open to Christians. His opposition was followed by that of his regional party members. Christian Democrat head Cyril Svoboda backed them last week saying: “I value a true-faith MuslimContinue Reading

Last Thursday a group of approximately 40 far-right extremists marched through the centre of Prague in protest of June arrests of 10 neo-Nazi concerts organisers. The 10 people arrested are currently being prosecuted for the promotion of neo-Nazi, racist and xenophobic ideas. Police said they were all members of the National Resistance. If convicted, they might face up to eight years in prison. The protesters unfurled a banner reading Svobodu (Freedom) and demanded the “political prisoners” to be released. Some handed out leaflets. Similar protests took place in June across the country. Yesterday’s march was watched over by police and members of the anti-conflict team and ended peacefully. Meanwhile, Human Rights and Minorities Minister Michael Kocáb released a report onContinue Reading