If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. The Czech Republic and eight other European states prepare a joint letter to the European Commission (EC), asking for help with the migrant crisis triggered by the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the letter will also propose “concrete solutions.” Some 1,800 men and women are now expected to join the Czech Army this year, up from the originally planned number of 700, Czech Television reported. Prime Minister Petr Fiala has been re-elected chairman of the Civic Democrats at a party congress in Prague. He defended his post for the fourth time with 510 votes out of 534 delegates and will remain party chief for at least two more years. The office of the Czech President is suspected of prematurely shredding 32 classified documents, Czech Radio reported on Thursday. These included intelligence information on the activities of Russian armed forces on the border with Ukraine and NATO information on the security situation in Iraq. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra will mark the start of the Czech Presidency of the EU Council with a special...
The Czech Republic has delivered tanks, multiple rocket launchers, howitzers, and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine among military shipments that have reached hundreds of millions of dollars and will continue, two Czech defense sources said. Ukraine has repeatedly called on the West to urgently supply more weapons, especially heavy equipment, as Russian forces regroup in the country’s east for new offensive after withdrawing from the capital Kyiv and other regions. NATO members are providing a wide range of weapon systems to the country, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday. The Czech Republic has spare equipment that Ukrainian forces are familiar with in storage as well as a defense industry focused on upgrades and trade in such weapons. It has been among the most active EU nations in backing Ukraine. Defense sources confirmed a shipment of five T-72 tanks and five BVP-1, or BMP-1, infantry fighting vehicles seen on rail cars in photographs on Twitter and video footage this week, but those were not the first shipments of heavy equipment. “For several weeks, we have been supplying heavy ground equipment – I am saying it generally but by definition it is clear that this includes tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, howitzers,...
Effective 9th April 2022, the Czech government decided to lift all the travel restrictions for entry and return from all countries to the Czech Republic related to the COVID-19 pandemics. People no longer need to fill in an entry form, undergo coronavirus testing or present a vaccination certificate, regardless of where they return (from the European Union or other countries). At the same time, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged travelers to check the requirements of specific carriers before traveling. Some airlines may still require a vaccination certificate or a negative test onboarding. Up until now only EU member states and a few selected countries were exempted from this requirement. The Health Ministry has also announced that as of the end of next week respirators will no longer be compulsory on public transport.
The first case of XE, a more transmittable Covid-19 variant, has been detected in the Czech Republic, the State Institute of Health announced on Thursday. The sample was identified by the National Reference Laboratory. Early indications suggest it could be around 10 per cent more transmissible than other Omicron mutations, but there is no evidence that XE is any more serious in disease severity, with all Omicron variants so far shown to be less severe. Here’s all you need to know about the XE variant: 1. The XE variant is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron variant, referred to as a “recombinant.” As per the initial studies, the XE variant has a growth rate of 9.8 percent over that of BA.2, also known as the stealth variant because of its ability to evade detection. The World Health Organization has said the latest mutant may be more transmissible than the previous ones. 2. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is studying XE a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains and as of March 22, 637 XE cases had been detected in England, according to official figures. Professor Susan Hopkins, the UKHSA’s chief medical advisor, said such variants...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. The ANO shadow government calls on the coalition cabinet for a one-off 6,000-crown bonus for the elderly, a higher parental benefit, return of scrapped reduced fares and a zero VAT for basic food products as well as capped basic food prices. The Czech Republic has granted over 269,000 special visas to refugees who have fled from the war in Ukraine and almost 3,000 visas were granted on Wednesday alone, which is 500 fewer as against a week ago. The daily number of issued visas has been falling for two weeks. The Prague Municipal Court today gave 20 years in prison to Czech Alojz Polak for terrorism as he had participated in the fighting in Ukraine on the side of separatists, but the verdict did not take effect yet, as both the prosecutor and the defence lawyer appealed it on the spot. The first case of XE, a more transmittable Covid-19 variant, has been detected in the Czech Republic, the State Institute of Health announced on Thursday. The sample was identified by the...
The relaxation of anti-epidemic measures in the Czech Republic is continuing. Further changes were discussed by the government today, including the suspension of the obligation to wear masks in public transport after the Easter weekend (April15-18), according to Seznam Zpravy. Respirators should remain mandatory only in medical and social facilities, and the government will still specify some mass events where masks must be worn. In addition to hospitals, surgeries and waiting rooms, a respirator is also needed in pharmacies. Health Minister Vlastimil Válek will bring the proposal next week to the Cabinet meeting. “After the Easter weekend, it is expected to get warmer and I see no reason for respirators to continue to be obligatory in public transport,” said the Minister. The spread of respiratory infections is generally related to the weather, according to experts, viruses are transmitted more from autumn to spring. Latest statistics Some 6,708 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the Czech Republic on Tuesday, a fall of around one-quarter on the same day last week. The number of suspected reinfections, 1,253, was also down on the previous Tuesday. The number of tests being conducted has also been falling. The seven-day case incidence dropped to 349...
The Czech senate officially approved the proposal to designate June 25 as the official “Day of departure of occupying forces” (Den odchodu okupačních vojsk) on Wednesday. The proposal was made 30 years after the then president of Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel, issued the “Order for the departure of Soviet armed forces from the territory of Czechoslovakia” (Rozkaz k odchodu sovětských vojsk z území ČSFR). However, the day will also serve to commemorate the withdrawals of other occupying armies in the preceding history of the Czech lands. Only the President’s signature was required for the bill to enter into force. The name of the new commemorative date does not specify the affiliation of the occupation troops, so it symbolizes the end of all the occupations that the Czech people have experienced. However, the reference to the USSR is quite obvious: the initiative arose last year during the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia. Moreover, on June 25, 1991, was signed in Prague the protocol for the completion of this procedure. The plane with the last Soviet soldier left Czechoslovakia on June 27. Altogether, 7,300 Soviet soldiers and 39,000 members of their families, 1,220 tanks, 2,500 infantry fighting vehicles...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. The Chamber of Deputies recognized the Great Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine in 1932-33 as a genocide, strongly condemning this crime, mass repression and human rights violation and offering condolences to its victims’ relatives in a resolution adopted today. Ostrava has cancelled the annual celebration of its liberation anniversary that was to take place at the Red Army Memorial on April 30, in reaction to the current Russian aggression against Ukraine, Mayor Tomas Macura has tweeted. Czech local and Senate elections will be held on Friday, September 23, and Saturday, September 24, 2022. The date was set by President Milos Zeman, his office announced in a press release. The foreign ministers of the Central 5 (C5) informal group states – Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and Slovenia – will meet in the Stirin chateau near Prague next Tuesday to discuss the situation in Ukraine faced with Russian invasion. The Czech Republic has expelled 100 Russian “diplomats” since last April. “We have prevented 100 Russian ‘diplomats’ working against the Czech Republic, the EU, and...
April 30th is an exciting day for Czechs of all ages who gather by fire and celebrate the arrival of spring. Witch burning (Čarodejnice), also known as the night of the witches, stems from an ancient tradition. There are many locations where this is celebrated and some involve a maypole: a tall wooden pole popular to dance around at various traditional European festivals. Outside of folk customs witch-burning night is also the second-largest satanic holiday. While it acts as the largest Sabbath for Satanic cults, in the Czech Republic it’s considered a regular and harmless family holiday. Historically, the night of April 30th has been considered magical and was originally celebrated at midnight. Like most ancient festivities, the main purpose of the event was to celebrate fertility. People also believed that on this night witches would gather together. To protect themselves from the witches, evil spirits, and demons in general, people lit fires on elevated grounds. Originally the fires were supposed to ward off everything evil, but after the Spanish Inquisition, it became specifically about burning the evil witches. Brooms that were considered unlucky would be burned and the ashes were believed to have special powers to increase the number...
The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic rejected a proposal to repeal parts of the civil code and other laws stating that the condition for official gender transitioning is an operation. The change in the law was demanded by a person who self-identified as non-binary. “The plaintiff, born as a man but who feels they are neither a man nor a woman, but a person of the neutral gender, demanded a change of birth number at the administrative bodies and courts,” the constitutional court described the core of the case under review. The plaintiff also suggested deleting the passage of the civil code, according to which gender reassignment is possible only by surgery, and changing the wording of the law on specific health services regarding gender reassignment of transgender patients. The court did not deal with the conditions of gender reassignment but focused exclusively on the form of the birth number, so it would comply with Czech standards. “In the Czech Republic, people divide into women and men. This understanding of the binary existence of the human species has no origin in the will of the state as the public authority only accepted this as a social reality,” the court...
The Czech Republic has been sending old Soviet-designed tanks into Ukraine, providing badly needed heavy weapons to outgunned Ukrainian troops that are battling a much better-equipped Russian invasion force. The efforts, described by three Czech and Slovak officials, mark the first time a foreign country has provided tanks to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began Feb. 24. In a potentially even more important development, both the Czech Republic and Slovakia are considering opening their military-industrial installations to repair and refit damaged Ukrainian military equipment. A spokesperson for the Defence Ministry said the Czech Republic had sent military aid worth nearly CZK 1 billion to Ukraine since the beginning of the war but declined to give any further details. The Czech vehicles are only the latest example of military equipment coming from the West. Germany on April 1 approved the delivery to Ukraine of several dozen infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) amid criticism that Berlin has not been sending enough military aid to Kyiv. NATO allies will discuss the delivery of more weapons to Ukraine when foreign ministers meet on Wednesday and Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Czech parliament, has unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday, declaring the murder of civilians by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha and other places a war crime under international law. Some 12.600 refugees from Ukraine started working in the Czech Republic in March and 10,000 refugees have registered at job offices, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Marian Jurecka told journalists today. Some 200 Czech troops arrived at NATO facilities in eastern Slovakia on Tuesday, as part of the alliance’s response to the war in Ukraine. Another 250-strong unit left the Czech Republic to join them on Monday. The NATO unit deployed to Slovakia will be under Czech command. The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) is organising a tender for the purchase of hybrid buses into the city’s public transport fleet. The buses will combine combustion engines with electric batteries as a fuel supply. The company hopes to purchase 140 buses. Czech police are looking for a woman who set off...
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