Czech President Milos Zeman said on Sunday the idea that Russian spies caused a 2014 ammunition dump explosion in Vrbětice was just one of two theories and the possibility it was an accident should not be ruled out. Zeman’s statement came just over a week after the government sparked a row with Moscow by saying it suspected that two Russian spies accused of a nerve agent poisoning in Britain in 2018 were also behind the Czech 2014 explosion that killed two people. “We are working with two investigative theories – the first, original one, that there was an explosion resulting from inexpert handling of explosives, and the second that it was an operation of a foreign intelligence service,” he said in the speech, carried on Prima television. Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on April 17 that there was well-grounded suspicion of the involvement of Russian military intelligence service GRU in the explosions. The government has not announced any other possible version of the events. The Czech government expelled 18 Russian diplomats and other embassy staff it identified as spies last week, which Zeman said he supported. It ordered a further 63 diplomats and Russian staff to leave by the end...
The Czech Republic on Friday had its lowest daily COVID-19 case increase since late September. There were 2,587 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of known cases the country has had to 1,618,068. The number of people hospitalized with Covid has also dropped and is now at 3,466, of which 765 are in a serious condition. The overall Covid-related death toll is now close to 29,000. All shops, markets, and selected services will reopen on Monday, May 3, if Covid-19 numbers continue to fall, said the Minister of Trade and Industry Karel Havlíček (ANO). In regions where the number of newly confirmed cases is below 100 per 100,000, museums, monuments and galleries will also be allowed to open, though without group tours. This currently applies to the Karlovy Vary, Hradec Králové, and Plzeň regions, where kindergartens will reopen normally on April 26th, without masks or testing. Another phase including opening restaurant terraces, outdoor performances, hotels and allowing outdoor sports in groups – all with capacity limits – could happen when the infection rate falls below 75 per 100,000. In an initial easing of restrictions, first- to fifth-graders returned to classrooms while libraries and a limited amount of retail...
Czechs mostly perceive Russia as a security threat to the Czech Republic. This follows from the poll released by the research agency Median for Czech Radio. The agency has recently conducted a survey in connection with the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 1037 respondents over 18 years old took part in a canvass, which took place this week on Monday and Tuesday. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means no threat and 10 means a huge threat, they rated the risk Russia posed to the Czech Republic with an average of 6.4. Almost a fifth of those polled believed Russia posed a grave peril. 10 percent of interviewees, on the contrary, were convinced it did not constitute a threat at all. The former were primarily represented by people from large cities or ODS voters (Civil Democratic Party), whereas the latter were comprised of KSČM voters (Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia). One-fifth of people who do not consider Russia a threat are over 60 years old. “At the same time, respondents in this age group maintain the most hostile attitude towards Russia, both in the perception of the country as a minimal threat and...
All shops, markets and selected services will reopen on Monday, May 3, if Covid-19 numbers continue to fall, said the Minister of Trade and Industry Karel Havlíček (ANO). On Thursday afternoon, the Czech government discussed a plan to relax measures against coronavirus. “If the favorable trend continues, we will allow the reopening of the rest of shops, markets, and other services,” wrote Havlíček on Twitter. Some spas and also museums and galleries can also reopen if there is no rise in cases. He added that such changes will occur if the number of cases fell to below 100 per 100,000 inhabitants weekly. The figure on Wednesday dropped to 177 and is down from over 400 at the end of March. Another phase including opening restaurant terraces, outdoor performances, hotels and allowing outdoor sports in groups – all with capacity limits – could happen when the infection rate falls below 75 per 100,000. In an initial easing of restrictions, first- to fifth-graders returned to classrooms while libraries and a limited amount of retail shops opened on April 12. The health ministry recorded 2,942 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, down from 3,714 cases on the same day in the previous week and...
Czech general practitioners will receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against coronavirus on Thursday as the distributor on Wednesday assesses the authenticity of the jabs and prepares them for delivery. The company Avenier is in charge of the deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines. The Health Ministry tasked it on Tuesday evening to start distributing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. “The supplies into particular GPs’ surgeries across the Czech Republic are scheduled as of Thursday morning,” Nesrsta said. Deliveries of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine started on April 12 to member states in a boost to the continent’s vaccination efforts. The U.S. company has committed to delivering to the EU by the end of June 55 million doses and another 120 million in the third quarter, EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton said this month. The single-dose vaccine was shown to have a 72% efficacy rate in the United States in preventing symptomatic illness and an 85% efficacy rate in preventing the most severe disease 28 days after vaccination. The Czech Republic administered 51,199 Covid-19 vaccine doses on Tuesday, nearly one-fifth less than last Tuesday and the lowest workday amount in almost two weeks, while there were 3,787...
Sultan Khamzaev, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and chief executive of the project Sober Russia, proposed to ban Czech beer on Russian territory as a reaction to the expulsion of eighteen diplomats on Saturday. In his opinion, such a measure will make Czech political groups realize that their statements and actions will have economic repercussions for the entire country. Russians, according to Khamzaev, will be able to live without a beverage, and the embargo will help reduce the alcohol consumption among the population. “In Russia, people consume about eight billion liters of beer annually, including a certain percentage of Czech beer. We need to ban it and let them consume it there themselves,” Khamzaev asserted in an interview with the radio station Moscow Speaks. A number of Russian politicians spoke out against the proposal. They consider the measure to be childish, inefficient, and potentially pernicious for Russia. “I am always very suspicious of such initiatives. What will it lead to? What does beer and all these conflicts have to do with it?” said Andrey Panferov, First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Novosibirsk Oblast. “Time will pass and everything will fall into place. And...
The impact of the first phase of resumption of work of establishments will be evaluated, and the future reopening schedule will be presented, said Karel Havlíček, Minister of Industry and Trade. Last Monday marked the first phase of easing of previously introduced restrictions. The government decided to implement the so-called rotational learning for pupils of the first grade of primary schools. Preschoolers could attend kindergartens once again, and special schools returned to normal teaching. Children’s clothing and footwear shops, stationery stores and some services such as locksmiths, dry cleaners, and laundries had welcomed their customers for the first time in months. If the pandemic situation develops well, the government will present the plan for the reopening of other facilities. According to Havlíček, the cabinet is to wait for ten days from April 12th to assess whether the measures taken were adequate. “If the situation develops well and if the incidence goes to the key threshold that we have agreed upon – that is 100 [cases] per week for 100,000 people, we are ready to present the system of loosening of restrictions in regard to shops and services on Thursday,” Minister said. “On Thursday, the government will meet to assess the...
Beer consumption in the Czech republic was badly affected by the coronavirus last year, the country’s brewing body said Tuesday. The amount consumed annually on average by each person in the country dropped by 7 liters to 135 liters, the Czech Union of brewers said. It´s the lowest figure since the 1960s, according to the union. Frantisek Samal, the head of the union, said up to 500 pubs were forced to close for good, and hundreds more are expected to follow suit this year. “I don’t remember a time when pubs and restaurants were in such crisis,” Samal said. The Czech Republic might be the world’s 86th largest country in terms of its population, but it ranks 19th in total beer consumption, according to the most recent Global Beer Consumption Report, published by Kirin at the end of 2020. The country’s world-beating per-person average beer consumption hit 188.6 liters in 2019, outpacing Austria, in second place, by more than 80 liters per person. Bars and restaurants were closed for months after the pandemic hit the country in March last year, while the ban on drinking alcohol in public and the cancellation of sports, cultural and other events also contributed to...
Czech Television journalist Nora Fridrichová has launched a charitable initiative called Šatník (The Wardrobe). The project began in early March and has already received massive interest from the public. Šatník will accept donations of clothing, shoes toiletries, toys, appliances, and sports equipment to be given to single-parent families in need. Donations are not limited to those living in Prague. Now that the restrictions on movement between zones has been lifted, those living in surrounding regions can come to collect donations after registering and being approved. Šatník is currently headquartered in Prague at the Kasarna Karlín, a former a military outpost more recently used to house cultural events. A spokesperson stated, “We can’t show or play theater in our hall right now – but we have a great replacement! Fridrichková is known to be a longtime advocate for single people and has even inspired a similar initiative in Pilsen called Girls for Girls which also offers a wardrobe of donations for single-parent families. “We got the idea to set it up at about the same time as, for example, in Prague, the presenter of the Czech Television program 168 Hours, Nora Fridrichová. And when we published information that we were preparing it,...
Russia on Sunday expelled 20 Czech diplomats in retaliation for a slew of diplomatic expulsions by Prague and gave the affected Czech diplomats just over 24 hours to leave the country, the RIA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying. Prague had on Saturday ordered out 18 Russian diplomats, prompting Russia to vow on Sunday to “force the authors of this provocation to fully understand their responsibility for destroying the foundation of normal ties between our countries”. The October 16, 2014, blast in Vrbetice, in the eastern Czech region of Zlin, set off 50 metric tons of stored ammunition, killing two people. Two months later, another blast of 13 tons of ammunition occurred at the same site. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the attack had been aimed at a shipment to a Bulgarian arms trader. “This was an attack on ammunition that had already been paid for and was being stored for a Bulgarian arms trader,” he said on Czech Television. Bulgarian prosecutors charged three Russian men in 2020 with an attempt to kill arms trader Emilian Gebrev, who was identified by Czech media as the same individual. Reuters was unable to reach Gebrev for comment. Czech police...
The European Union has agreed on increasing vaccine supplies from the Pfizer/BioNTech company to the member states. “We have just agreed with BioNTech-Pfizer to once again speed up vaccine delivery in the European Union,” the head of the European Commission wrote on Twitter. Vaccine deliveries in the second quarter will increase by 50 million doses, or a quarter, to a total of 250 million doses, according to von der Leyen. The Czech Republic should receive about 1.2 million doses. The country would otherwise get these vaccines by the end of the year, but now, according to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the country will receive them in April, May, and June. The supply and distribution of vaccines in the European Union long-term contend with difficulties and delays, which earned the European Commission sharp criticism as it has concluded contracts with vaccine manufacturers. The vaccine produced by the United States and a German company could compensate European states for other companies’ supply disruptions. The head of the European Commission has admitted that, in addition to restricting supplies from AstraZeneca, the suspension of Johnson & Johnson’s distribution due to health complications in the United States is also causing problems. “That is why it...
The Czech Republic says it will expel 18 Russian diplomats, alleging that Russian intelligence officers – all those identified as SVR and GRU agents. Prime Minister Andrej Babis said Saturday that the Czech intelligence agencies provided clear evidence about the involvement of Russian military agents in the explosion of 50 tonnes of munitions at a depot in Vrbětice in October 2014 in which two people died. Czech police’s organised crime unit had worked on the case for several years in cooperation with the BIS counterintelligence service and the Brno Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office. “The explosion led to huge material damage and posed a serious threat to the lives of many local people, but above all it killed two of our fellow citizens, fathers of families,” Babis said. Babis added the Czech Republic is a sovereign state and must react to those findings. Interior Minister Jan Hamacek, who is also serving as the foreign minister, said those 18 Russian embassy staffers were clearly identified as Russian military spies and were ordered to leave the country within 48 hours. Hamacek said he had summoned Russian ambassador Alexander Zmeyevsky on Saturday evening to tell him about the decision. In 2014, a series of...
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