The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have called for the world to “stand by Ukraine without qualification or reservation” in an article for Foreign Affairs magazine.
Mateusz Morawicki, Petr Fiala and Eduard Heger wrote in the bimonthly that if Ukraine loses its war against Russia, the rest of Central Europe could be next.
To prevent this, they said, Ukraine must be supported until Russian forces “withdraw from its territory entirely, putting a definitive end to the Kremlin’s revanchism and imperialism.” Anything less, they asserted, would be “like issuing an open invitation to all authoritarian lunatics who think that it is OK to invade their neighbors.”
The three heads of government argued that a frozen conflict would not be a viable option as this is Moscow’s preferred modus operandi for buying time so it can “regroup and rebuild its forces while continuing to wage political warfare and export its imperial ideology,” something they said the Kremlin had been doing for years.
The prime ministers wrote that their countries have hundreds of years of experience of Russia’s “revanchism, totalitarianism, occupation, deportations and massacres,” which is why they had been sounding the alarm well in advance of Moscow’s February 24, 2022, invasion of its western neighbour.
The three said that the war had “injected new energy into the transatlantic alliance” with many Nato members now doing more to enhance their defence and deterrence capacity than ever before, something they said would be continued at the alliance’s Vilnius summit in July.
“Now is not the time to lessen in our resolve,” they wrote. “We must continue to stand by Ukraine without qualification or reservation.”
Morawiecki, Fiala and Heger welcomed the International Criminal Court’s indictment of Vladiimir Putin, and called for a special tribunal to be established to try Russian war crimes.
They also called on Nato to set out a “clear and credible path for Ukraine’s membership” at its July summit.
Brno was liberated exactly 79 years ago, on April 26, 1945, by the Red Army led by Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky in the Bratislava-Brno operation.
The next day, the Nazi German administration of the city was abolished and was replaced by the newly created and Czech-led “Národní výbor města Brna” (People’s Committee of the City of Brno).
This operation was launched on March 25, 1945, with the crossing of the Central-Slovakian river Hron.
Soviet soldiers were supported by Romanian troops who had defected to the side of the Allies and would later fight in battles near Znojmo, Rosice, Tišnov, Zlín, and lower Haná.
The objective of the Bratislava-Brno Offensive was south Moravia, i.e. to liberate the city of Brno and advance to the towns of Vyškov, Prostějov, and Olomouc. At the same time, the 4th Ukrainian Front was to advance towards Olomouc from the north, thereby surrounding the German army in Moravia and Slovakia.
The Soviet army, with 350,000 infantry, nearly 7,900 pieces of artillery and mortars, around 300 tanks and over 600 aircraft, outnumbered the German forces. The Red Army was joined in its advance on south Moravia by 86,000-strong units belonging to the Royal Romanian Army.
Bratislava was declared a fortress in December 1944, meaning that important buildings were mined and connected to a unified detonation system – however, the local inhabitants were able to sabotage the system and Bratislava was liberated on 4th April.
5th April 1945 saw the start of the battle for south Moravia – first Lanžhot, then Hodonín. On 15th April 1945, an order was issued to German units to abandon the fortress of Brno and take a position outside the city in order to defend it.
Starting on 18th April 1945, the most intense phase of the fighting took place for control of the village of Ořechov, an important strategic point on the road to Brno. After a week of fighting, Ořechov was taken, opening up the road to Brno, which was liberated on 26th April 1945.
18th April 1945 was the day on which American forces also entered the Czechoslovakian territory, from the west, by the village of Hranice near Aš. Their advance was, however, halted on 6th May at a previously agreed demarcation line running from Karlovy Vary to České Budějovice via Plzeň – any further advance was forbidden by the Soviet command.
The offensive destroyed seven Axis divisions, and President Edvard Benes spent a week in Brno, which was the Czechoslovak seat of government until the Prague Offensive in mid-May.
Brno was badly affected both by previous air raids and then by fighting in the streets of the city. Of the 26,280 houses, 1,277 were completely destroyed.
In total, 13,723 houses were damaged, virtually every other house in Brno, according to the online ‘Brno Encyklopedia’.
The Battle of the Teams has become for many runners a special race because it turns a traditionally individual sport into a team event.
A sport that connects professional athletes who have often been fierce competitors in the past. A sport which connects their teams with hobby runners who are participating in the Prague International Marathon.
The unique teams made their debut last year as part of The Prague International Marathon and will continue the tradition this year. There will be five teams – the defending champions from Generali Česká pojišťovna together with ČEZ Group, Mattoni, Prague Airport and also Rohlik.cz. Each will soon introduce its captain.
Once they have been named, the Marathon´s All runners (hobby runners) will get the opportunity to join a team of their choosing, based on who they think will finish with the fastest collective time.
They will get a number of incentives to run their best race and, most importantly, they’ll get a chance to support various charity organizations. The Prague International Marathon starts on Sunday 7 May.
The rules of the Battle of the Teams are simple – four professional athletes in each team will be scored for their performances, and then the average of all the other runners’ scores will be added to these scores. In addition, if a pro runs a personal best, they will receive an extra three percent point bonus for their team.
A similar rule now also applies to All Runners. “There is nothing like this in any other running race in the world,” says Carlo Capalbo, President of the RunCzech Organizing Committee. “One unique twist,” he adds, “is that every amateur participant in the Battle of The Teams will be able to compete for a share of the prize money.”
The winning team will receive EUR 30,000, which will be divided equally among all the professional athletes, while EUR 15,000 will go to the remaining teams. The best Battle of the Teams participant from the winning team will also receive a financial reward. Visit RunCzech.com to receive more information.
Ignazio La Russa, the controversial head of the Italian Senate from the far-right Brothers of Italy party, will arrive in Prague on Tuesday.
According to ANSA, his stay in the Czech Republic will include a visit to the memorial at Terezín, which was a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.
La Russa, who will attend a conference of EU parliamentary presidents in Prague, will also lay a wreath at the Jan Palach memorial. He arrives in Prague on Italian Liberation Day, when Italians commemorate the anniversary of the end of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime in 1945.
“I was struck by the fact that the president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa goes to Prague to pay homage to Jan Palach, who is certainly a hero of freedom, but there are 364 other days a year to do it”. Then he added: “Tomorrow in the country where there was the massacre of the Fosse Ardeatine or the massacre of Marzabotto or Sant’Anna di Stazzema it would have been more logical to bring a flower there”, he concluded.
The Nazi murdered 335 men and boys at the Ardeatine Caves outside Rome, 770 people at Marzabotto outside Bologna, and 560 people including 130 children at Sant’Anna di Stazzema near Lucca.
La Russa became speaker of the upper house last October when the Brothers of Italy party, which he co-founded, won the elections. Its leader, Giorgia Meloni, became prime minister and formed a government with another far-right party, Matteo Salvini’s Lega, and Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right formation, Forza Italia.
He has become known for a series of controversial statements and has also faced calls from the opposition to resign from the Senate.
La Russa claims that there is no place for nostalgia for Mussolini in the Brothers of Italy party, but has himself faced suspicions of fascist sympathies. In 2018, it was revealed that La Russa had a collection of Mussolini busts at home.
During the Covid-19 pandemic on social media, he also urged Italians to greet each other with a salute instead of a handshake.
- According to Eurostat, Czech households still pay the most for energy in the EU, with electricity and gas being the fourth most expensive in the entire Union in the second half of 2022. The average electricity price was €384.4 per MWh, while gas was €190.4 per MWh.
- Teachers will have a guaranteed salary of around 130% of the average gross pay in the Czech Republic as of next year, under a bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies today. However, this will only apply to teachers themselves, rather than all teaching staff as the government originally proposed.
- The speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, presented his country’s Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, second class, to Czech Senate speaker Miloš Vystrčil in Prague. Mr. Stefanchuk said that the honour symbolised Ukraine’s gratitude for support in the fight against Russian aggression.
- The Czech government commissioner for Roma affairs, Lucie Fuková, says that 275 victims of forced sterilisation have received compensation. In the last year the Ministry of Health received 630 applications for such compensation and processed three-quarters of them.
- The Czech koruna continues its remarkable strengthening trend this year, reaching a fifteen-year-old record against the euro at around 23.50 per euro. Economists suggest the trend may continue, and the currency may even break the 23 korun mark against the euro.
When it comes to Prague and its relations with esoteric culture, our mind immediately goes to the figure of Rudolf II Emperor of Hapsburg, the king who gave the Bohemian capital its fame as a “magic city” par excellence.
If it’s true that Rudolf II actually contributed enormously to the creation of the myth of an esoteric Prague, it is equally true that before him, another great ruler had already – through his figure – linked Prague inextricably to the history of Western esotericism: Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg.
Charles was an enlightened ruler, who surrounded himself with learned artists and scholars and who chose Prague as his residence, thus making it the most important centre of the kingdom. Under the Emperor, the city experienced a period of strong growth, both from an artistic and architectural point of view and a social and cultural one.
The emperor approached Esoteric culture during his formative years in France, and from there brought it to Bohemia. It was in France, however, when he was still only thirteen years old, that he experienced a state of religious ecstasy while listening to a sermon of the scholar and monk Pierre Roger, the future Pope Clement VI, his future friend and ally.
The sovereign regarded astrology as an integral part of his life. He had never undertaken any important task without first consulting the horoscope, the date and exact time when the construction would actually start being built, that was also based on astrological methods of calculation.
The emperor ordered the construction of many public buildings, such as the bridge that took his name and the cathedral of St. Vitus and various other churches. It is from these construction works that we can deduce the Emperor’s deep interest and attention towards esotericism and particularly astrology.
Inside the cathedral stands the important St. Wenceslas Chapel, with the square-plan design that Charles requested with its walls and vaults decorated with semi-precious stones. The reason for this unique decorative choice, which is unprecedented in Bohemia, can be traced to the symbolism of Celestial Jerusalem that, according to what is written in the Revelation, had a square shape and its walls adorned with all kinds of precious stones.
On the day of the summer solstice, St. Vitus Cathedral becomes a protagonist of the Prague skyline. To an observer standing on Charles Bridge at around 8.30pm, the sun sets exactly on the presbytery of the cathedral, the burial place of Czech kings and where the relics of the saints are preserved, affording a fascinating spectacle.
But the importance given to esoteric sciences by the Emperor may also be found elsewhere. In 1348, in order to enlarge city of Prague, Charles founded, as we said, the New Town. The Gothic walls of the city stretched out for almost three kilometres and a half, and the project included twenty-four defensive towers, as well as four main gates. Here as well, the Emperor was inspired by the book of Revelation and the 24 towers represent 24 elders seated around the throne of God (Rev. 4:4), while the four gates the four Living Beings (Rev. 5:8).
Even the New Town had been designed, just as, on a smaller-scale, the Chapel of St. Wenceslas, on the basis of the Jerusalem plan. With this urban construction, the emperor wanted to represent the image on earth of the Biblical Celestial Jerusalem, but was also inspired by the historical Jerusalem.
He had the city built as a result of careful studies and according to the hermetic rule that requires the interpenetration of the macrocosm and microcosm in all things. As a sort of magical protection for the city, he ordered the construction of five remote churches at regular distances, in order to form a cross that would be visible from above.
The churches are those of the Virgin Mary Na Slovanech; the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Charles the Great; Saint Catherine of Alexandria; St. Apollinaire and the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Na trávníčku.
But the construction work that, above all else, demonstrates the great interest in astrology and esotericism of Charles IV is, undoubtedly, Charles Bridge. On July 9, 1357 with a solemn consecration ceremony, the first stone was laid at 5:31am, just after sunrise, according to very precise astrological correspondences, in terms of day and time.
By taking a closer look at the date and time of the foundation, a curious detail comes to the fore. The numbers in sequence give rise to a series of numbers that are considered magical: 135797531, a palindrome number. A sort of magical protection, so that the bridge may last forever.
Shortly before, on the side of the Old Town, a tower had been built to act as the main door to the city. This tower has an important symbolic function, because it acted as an obligatory stop for the kings, who went along the “Royal Road”, an extremely esoteric route full of symbols, on their way to the coronation.
During a few restructuring projects on the building, carried out in the 50s and 70s of the last century, two mysterious writings were brought to light, that had no spacing between the words or palindromes. The wording reads as follows: “Signate, signate, mere me tangis et angis” (beware, if you stain me with your touch, you will be hanged); “Roma, tibi subito motibus ibit amor” (Rome, love will come to you suddenly with turmoil).
Even if these phrases do not have any apparent meaning, they were intended to be real magic formulas of protection, similar to those frequently found on Italian medieval buildings, such as the well-known: “Sator arepo tenet opera rotas”
The tower is about 47 meters high, and was built to be a protective “magic” building full of encrypted symbols. On the left side is a lion holding a lamb’s leg in its mouth, while on the right side, there is an eagle that has caught a hare. In the middle there is a crown. Each of them has an astronomical and astrological meaning that may be deciphered only by those who own the relative code keys.
More than 700 years since his birth, the figure of Charles IV of Luxembourg does not cease to amaze us.
A man of immense charisma and great culture, he applied his revealed knowledge, but did not hesitate also to experiment with esotericism, so that his city and kingdom would become the realization of an ideal state, as theorized by philosophers and sages of all times and places.
The United Islands of Prague Festival, which will celebrate its twentieth birthday on the first weekend of May, publishes the complete program.
The audience will be able to enjoy approximately seventy artists from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, France and Luxembourg.
The festival will take place on May 5 and 6 in Kampa, Strelecky Ostrov, Janáček nábřeží and in the clubs Jazz Dock, Klub Famu, Rock Café, Cargo Gallery and Chapeau Rouge. This year too, the festival will be free for all visitors.
“For the vast majority of foreign guests, playing here will be their first time. The Czech audience thus has a great opportunity to come to the premiere concerts of foreign stars coming from, for example, Ireland, Hungary or Luxembourg,” says festival producer Martin Voňka.
In addition to already announced bands such as The Magnettes or Enola Gay, visitors can also look forward to other interesting bands.
The program will include, for example, the Dutch-British band Someone, which stands out not only for its great music, but also for its excellent visual artwork. From Luxembourg, the rapper MAZ, who combines emo-rap with references to punk and metal, will arrive at the festival, and Ria Rua, whose songs have been played on the radio throughout Great Britain and Ireland, will also be present. Germany will be represented by the artpop band Sparkling, whose catchy song Wir Träumen will get everyone dancing, as well as Albertine Sarges, who maintains a sense of comedy in her approach.
From the Czech scene, for example, the singer Aiko, who became the global face of Spotify and appeared on a billboard in New York’s Times Square, or the singer Pam Rabbit, who performed alongside Mikuláš Josef at the world finals of Eurovision, will perform at the festival.
Next, the band Brighter Days will perform, which Klubovna.cz awarded six out of nine nominations for the best bands last year. Alternative singer-songwriter Marjari, singer and rapper Baby G, new rap star Meizyy, metal band Frozen Poppyhead will also perform at the festival, and DJ sets will be performed by EweMä, DJ Ketak and DJ Spherez.
The festival will take place in traditional places, namely on Kampa, Strelecky island, Janáček nábřeží. Artistic ensembles from the home district of Prague 1 will also be presented on the festival stages – for example, the boys’ choir Bruncvík, Haf Studio or Trio Jejda will perform.
“This year’s jubilee 20th year will not only be musically very varied, but also the federal organizations of our first district have accepted the invitation. They will be able to present their work and activities here, which I am personally very happy about,” says David Bodeček, 1st Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague 1.
Admission to the festival is traditionally free for everyone, as part of the concerts and the non-musical program Islands of Inspiration.
The new Vltava bridge connecting Prague 4 and 5 will be named “after a significant female figure”.
The eventual name of the bridge, known as Dvorecký, will be decided by citizens in a poll, with the municipality’s local history commission determining acceptable names.
The name will be picked as soon as the building is completed.
The bridge will span Vltava River from Podolí to Zlíchov, connecting Prague 4 and Prague 5. The aim is to improve connection between the banks in the southern part of the city, primarily for public transport, pedestrians, and cyclists.
The new bridge is needed because of a lacking tram, pedestrian and cycling connection between Smíchov and Podolí districts on opposite banks of river Vltava. The construction adheres to Prague’s zoning plan.
The eastern end of the bridge will be at the Žluty lázně north of Jeremenkova street, the western end will be near the Lihovar tram stop. It will be 388 meters long and 16 meters wide.
So far, the last bridge in Prague over the Vltava, Trojský most, was put into operation in October 2014. It replaced a temporary tram bridge from 1981, nicknamed “Rámusák”, whose operation ended on October 7, 2013.
The municipality also started the construction of the Štvanická bridge from Holešovice to Karlín last year. There is also talk of building the so-called Rohan Bridge, which would connect Jateční Street in Prague 7 with Urxová Street in Prague 8. No decision has yet been made about its construction.
- The average price of older apartments in Czechia has declined by 9 percent year on year to CZK 82,351 per square metre, the Czech News Agency reported on Sunday, citing a study by real estate group European Housing Services (EHS). Sales of older apartments in Prague are at their lowest level in four years.
- The Prague authorities do not plan to raise the price of individual public transport tickets or long-term travel passes, the deputy mayor in charge of transport, Zdeněk Hřib, told the Czech News Agency. He said more attention would be devoted to supporting electronic ticketing.
- Some 132 Czechs have secured official permission to fight for Ukraine since Russia invaded the country, the news website iRozhlas.cz reported on Saturday. In all cases they were given the go-ahead by former president Miloš Zeman.
- Ice hockey legend Jaromír Jágr says he will continue playing next season. Jágr, who is 51, made the comment to journalists after his club Kladno – which he also owns – won a playoff for the Czech top flight Extraliga on Friday evening.
- The riverbanks in Prague have reopened after being closed due to flooding over the past few days. Visitors are urged to remain cautious as water levels are still high, and the current flow rate is substantial. While flood activity is expected to subside soon, tributaries leading to the Vltava river are still experiencing higher water levels.
On Wednesday 26th April from 9 am to 10.00 pm, some amazing live performances are taking place across the Prague metro entrance halls at Můstek (A), Florenc (C), Hradčanská, Náměstí Republiky and Hlavní nádraží.
“Live music performances in metro stations are arranged annually by the Prague Public Transit Company (PPTC) and have always won very positive reactions from the passengers. Live music within the Prague metro is just a pleasant addition to their daily travel. On top of it, the artists have an opportunity to meet their potential fans and audience. We would like to keep this tradition going in future,” commented Jaroslav Ďuriš, the general director of PPTC.
A total of 34 bands from 17 different genres will be performing.
Passengers can listen from old blues, soul rhythms to rock and funk beats, modern jazz and drum & bass. Participation is free of charge. No tickets are required.
More information here
The Czech Republic’s industrial producer prices increased at the slowest pace in one-and-half years in March, figures from the Czech Statistical Office showed on Wednesday.
The industrial producer price index climbed 10.2 percent year-on-year in March, much slower than the 16.0 percent surge in February.
Economists had expected inflation to moderate to 11.3 percent.
Further, this was the weakest rate of increase since September 2021, when prices had grown 9.2 percent.
However, inflation has remained in double digits since October 2021.
The annual price growth in the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning segments slowed to 21.4 percent in March from 28.5 percent in the prior month.
Among the main industrial groupings, prices for non-durable consumer goods grew the most by 29.4 percent and those for energy goods by 12.3 percent.
Excluding energy, industrial producer price inflation eased to 9.5 percent in March from 12.4 percent in February.
On a monthly basis, producer prices dropped 1.0 percent in March. Economists had expected prices to fall slightly by 0.1 percent.
NATO countries have no choice other than supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia since not doing so would mean victory for Moscow, the Czech Republic’s president said on Wednesday.
There is “no alternative to supporting Ukraine because the alternative to it is the success of Russia,” Petr Pavel said at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
After talks at the alliance headquarters in Brussels the two discussed Prague’s contribution to NATO and the security challenges involved in the war in Ukraine, along with China’s more assertive foreign policy.
Paval said his country would meet NATO’s defense spending target of 2% of gross national product next year and revealed that they were ready for “discussions on spending more if necessary if linked to capabilities.”
NATO leaders are expected to adopt a more ambitious defense investment target at their upcoming July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Pavel acknowledged that public opinion in NATO countries had started to tire of the news on the Russia-Ukraine war, but noted that it was the duty of politicians to maintain support for Kyiv.
For his part, Stoltenberg said “the will in Europe to continue supporting Ukraine is enormous,” adding that it was a moral duty and a security interest for NATO countries.
He said he believed people care when they see that “civilians are killed, that women are raped, and that children are forcibly abducted, taken away from the parents.”