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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic:What’s beyond the Vietnamese marketplace? Times are getting tougher for the Vietnamese community living in the Czech Republic. Three weeks ago, the Vietnamese Sapa marketplace, also known as Little Hanoi, caught fire. This affected approximately one-fifth of the 250,000-square-metre market. One week later, the Czech interior and foreign affairs ministries suspended issuing long-term visas to Vietnamese citizens, stating alleged underworld practices accompanying the visa procedure and organised crime in the Vietnamese community. As if that was not enough, last week on Saturday, more than 800 police and customs officers and trade inspectors participated in an extensive raid on Little Hanoi, using armoured vehicles. In reactionContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic:What changes do you notice when comparing the Czech Republic of today to Czechoslovakia 19 years ago? Yesterday, the Czech Republic celebrated 19 years since the fall of communism. It was 17 November 1989 when the first major protest against the communist regime took place in Prague. Later on, Václav Havel, playwright and dissident, became leader of the new democratic nation. New life possibilities opened up for Czechs as well as for foreigners. The post-communist country with gaps in the market and its specific culture became new home for many people from abroad. Nineteen years later, the differences between the Czech Republic and the WestContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice you opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic:What should be done to prevent ethnic conflict in ČR? A week ago, a group of some 500 far-right radicals gathered in Litvínov to protest against the local Romani community. They were stopped by the riot police. Some locals were seen cheering on the far-right group. The Workers’ Party, which organised the meeting, said more gatherings will take place. Romani communities now fear more possible attacks. An association representing Roma in the Moravia-Silesia region has sent a letter to PM Mirek Topolánek calling for a speedy adoption of laws that would ban far-right groups. The group warned that a “mass emigration of Roma” might takeContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice you opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic:Do you believe Kundera? The weekly Respekt published an article written by a historian from the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes earlier this month, saying that the famous Czech author Milan Kundera had reported a Western agent to the police in 1950 when he was a student in Prague. Kundera denied the allegations, saying he did not know the person. He also complained about the way Respekt presented the information and decided to sue the publisher unless the weekly apologies. The dispute sparked a heated debate in Czech and foreign media. Some criticise Respekt for publishing such a sensitive piece of information, basedContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic: Are you feeling the impact of the economic crisis? The crisis seems to be the cause of everything these days. People spend less time and money in restaurants because of the crisis. Prisoners are losing jobs because of the crisis. Motivation to recycle is threatened because of the crisis, we read in the press. The economic downturn is even behind the growing sales of Belgian chocolate, as it is believed that people eat chocolate during tough times to feel better. In a column published last week, Czech pundit Miloš Čermák complained about the fact some people use the crisis as an excuse for delayedContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic: Is it acceptable making foreign names sound Czech? The Czech tradition of creating feminine versions of foreign surnames by adding the –ová suffix to the name has stirred up debate following the publication of a Mladá fronta Dnes article last week. The daily wrote that Czech Television wanted to fire one of its external sports commentators because of her reluctance to add the –ová ending to surnames of foreign female skiers. The argument was that using the suffix was recommended by the Czech language institute and that the TV station had adopted this practice as its regulation. Adding the suffix –ová to female namesContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic: Are Czech bank fees too high? While a number of foreign banks are struggling with financial problems, banks in the Czech Republic are reporting profits. Bank fees contribute greatly to the income, especially in the Czech Republic, where banks charge for almost everything, including ATM withdrawals, incoming payments and early loan settlements. The most absurd fee in 2008 was the fee for clients’ oversized deposits, according to a recent survey of the portal www.bankovnipoplatky.com. But Czech clients are conservative and tend to stick with one bank regardless of the amount they have to pay for the service. Maybe this attitude can help local banksContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic: Are Czechs ready to appreciate a good meal? In reaction to the financial crisis, some restaurant owners have decided to leave it up to their customers how much money they want to pay for meals, hoping they would attract more clients. The method turned out to be a success, for example, in London’s Little Bay restaurant and Seattle’s café Terra Bit Lounge. But this unusual method does not seem to work in the Czech Republic. The owner of the Prague restaurant U Petrské věže, who was the first to introduce the method in this country, had to give up the project after one weekContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic:Should media be allowed to publish police wiretaps? Last week, lower house deputies passed the draft penal code including the controversial ban on the disclosure of police-wiretapped phone conversations. Publishing transcripts or broadcasting recordings of phone calls intercepted by the police without the consent of the person concerned would be banned under the bill. Newspapers, broadcasters and internet sites would face up to five years in prison or a fine of CZK 5 million for violating the wiretapping discloser ban. The draft amendment has been criticised by a number of Czech and international media organisations, such as the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA), Reporters WithoutContinue Reading

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Welcome to Talkback, a forum to voice your opinion on today’s Czech news. This week’s topic: How many baby boxes does it take to make children happy? Last week, a three-month-old baby was found in a baby box in Ostrava. The baby girl Zorka is the 15th child that has been placed in a baby box in the Czech Republic, according to the daily Týden.cz. The country operates 15 such boxes and more are yet to open. Ludvík Hess, head of the Statim foundation for abandoned children, who introduced the system in the Czech Republic in 2005, plans to increase the number to 70. The first Czech baby found in a baby box was a twin. The mother left aContinue Reading