Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Perebyinis discussed Czech Republic’s patronage of the restoration of Dnipropetrovsk region with the delegation of the Czech Republic headed by the Governmental Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine Tomáš Kopečný. Perebyinis expressed gratitude for military, financial, and humanitarian assistance provided by the Czech Republic to Ukraine, in particular, within the Government program for 2023-25 framework that was adopted in October last year. “The implementation of a number of specific projects was discussed, including prospects for the interaction of two sides in the context of the Czech patronage over the reconstruction of Dnipropetrovsk region,” reads the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In addition to focusing on the region, Czechia also wants to be involved in the reconstruction of specific sectors where it has know-how and experience, such as energy, transport, infrastructure, healthcare, and demining. The parties also exchanged views on a number of topical issues of the bilateral relations, including the development of the Ukrainian-Czech political dialogue as well as cooperation in Ukraine’s path towards accession to the EU. In a report issued in January, the Kyiv School of Economics estimated that as of December, the war had damaged or destroyed 149,300 residential buildings, including 131,400 private houses;...
One of the most popular races in the world, the famous Prague Half Marathon, which takes place on April 1, is sold out. An exclusive chance to participate in the race, which is part of the world’s leading SuperHalfs series, is to buy a registration through one of the seven cooperating charity organizations. “The Prague Half Marathon is an extraordinary race in historical Prague, with an unforgettable atmosphere that no one with passion for running wants to miss,” says Carlo Capalbo, President of the RunCzech Organizing Committee. The race, whose start and finish will traditionally be located at the Jan Palach Square in front of Rudolfinum, will be attended by almost 12,000 participants, led by elite Czech and international athletes. The race is sold out, however, those interested in the Prague Half Marathon who are no longer able to register even through the charities do not need to be sad. They can still run the race in the unique scenery of the Prague city centre a month later, on 7th May, as a part of the famous Prague International Marathon. All they have to do is sign up for the 2Run race, in which each of the pairs will run...
Petr Pavel will visit Ukraine in April, the Czech News Agency reports. The recently inaugurated Czech president agreed on this during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday. Meteorologists have called a high wind warning for the western parts of the country on Tuesday. The wind is expected to gain in strength late Tuesday afternoon and last until midnight, with a force of around 70 kilometers per hour and more in the mountain regions. There is a heightened danger of falling trees and electricity lines. Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka is pushing for the European Commission to modify and postpone some of the strict Euro 7 emission standards on reducing air pollution from new motor vehicles sold in the EU to meet Europe’s Green Deal. President Petr Pavel held talks with his Slovak counterpart President Zuzana Čaputová in Bratislava on Monday. The two heads of state discussed the possibility of making joint foreign trips to further their countries’ interests and closer cooperation in fighting disinformation. Ryanair will offering four new destinations this summer season. Passengers will then be able to go to Gdańsk, Rimini, Seville, and Skiathos. The carrier expects a 21%...
In a huge blow to legalization efforts, the Court of Appeal ruled that publishing a magazine about cannabis can be deemed illegal because of the so-called “spreading of toxicomania”. Robert Veverka is editor-in-chief and sole publisher of magazine Legalizace, which has existed in the Czech media space without any problems for more than ten years. After over a year battling in court, he has been ordered to pay a fine of more than 250 000 CZK, and the court ruling effectively bans him from publishing the magazine in the future. Bolshevik relics in the law According to the court in Ostrava, the magazine offered instructions on how to illegally obtain cannabis, how to grow, process and use the plant. From time to time there were also seeds inserted in the magazine, since the sale and possession of cannabis seeds is completely legal in the Czech Republic, and there were disclaimers attached. The court also didn’t like advertisements of fertilizer companies and seedbanks, although all the goods are normally sold in gardening shops and are all perfectly legal. Veverka described the “spreading toxicomania” (or the ‘promotion of drug addiction’) section cited in the law as very flexible, sufficiently vague that it can be interpreted in many different ways so that it suits the prosecution, saying: “It...
Petr Pavel, Czechia’s president-elect, reportedly intends to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensy in April. The recently inaugurated Czech president agreed on this during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, which according to Pavel’s spokeswoman was requested by president Zelensky so he could congratulate Pavel on taking office. The visit will be part of a wider diplomatic trip abroad, including to Brussels, after Pavel’s official inauguration into office on March 9. “Czech support is crucial for Ukraine in fighting against [the Russian Federation]’s aggression,” Zelenskiy tweeted. Pavel earlier said that Ukraine’s membership in NATO has to be considered after the war with Russia ends. Since the full-scale war began, Pavel has been known for his steadfast advocacy of military support for Ukraine, saying in February that Kyiv should be given any and all conventional weapons necessary for victory. Speaking with Ukrainian publication Suspilne, the retired general and former senior NATO commander said that Ukraine has “done its homework” on common values, long-term interests, and technical interoperability with the alliance. However, admitting Ukraine now, would make NATO a party to the conflict, which may lead to nuclear war, he said. Nevertheless, Pavel added that he believes Ukraine deserves to be...
Russian war symbols were seen among the thousands of protestors gathered in Prague to protest war and poverty on Saturday, with some attempting to tear down the Ukrainian flag that has been hanging outside the National Museum over the past year. Besides displaying Russian war symbols, some protestors held banners stating, “STOP the war, STOP NATO”. “I expect the organisers to distance themselves from these acts of violence. It gives the impression that the entire so-called demonstration against poverty was just a cover for pro-Russian provocation, and we certainly cannot be tolerant of such manifestations,” Rakušan told Czech Television on Sunday. The protests resulted in the arrest of 18 people involved in the attempt to tear down the Ukrainian flag at the museum, said a Czech Police spokeswoman who added that two police officers tasked with guarding the entrance to the museum were injured. Police also arrested a man who wore a Russian Wagner group patch and the Z symbol on his backpack and jacket on suspicion of public denial, questioning, and approval of genocide. The protest’s organisers also announced they are planning a blockade of government buildings on 16 April. Interior Minister Vit Rakušan said the state must prepare for such...
Petr Pavel will visit Ukraine in April, the Czech News Agency reports. The recently inaugurated Czech president agreed on this during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday. The Czech Republic is already negotiating with the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro regarding Czechia’s involvement in the post-war reconstruction of the city and surrounding region, Czechia also wants to be involved in the reconstruction of specific sectors where it has know-how and experience, such as energy, transport, infrastructure, healthcare, and demining. The Czech Republic celebrated 24 years since joining NATO on Sunday. It officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, together with Poland and Hungary, on March 12, 1999. New Czech President Petr Pavel will soon release a plan of specific goals for his first 100 days in office. He noted that he would not be comfortable with a “100-day defence” after assuming the post, but would rather be criticised for being too active at the start of this term. Construction production in the Czech Republic returned to growth in January, rising by 5.4 percent year-on-year. The Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) reported on Monday.
Protesters have tried to break into the National Museum in Prague to tear down the Ukrainian flag from its facade, which was hung up as a sign of Czech solidarity with Kiev, Czech Television reported. On Saturday, Czech media reported that thousands of people took to the streets of Prague demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Petr Fiala amid rising costs of living. Czech Television said that about 10,000 people gathered in the Czech capital, while several dozen marched to the National Museum building in an attempt to get the Ukrainian flag down. Police prevented the demonstrators from entering the museum and 18 protesters were detained. A police spokesperson told Czech Television that two law enforcement officers were injured. Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN) described the violent speeches at the end of the demonstration as unacceptable. “I expect the organisers to distance themselves from these acts of violence. It gives the impression that the entire demonstration against poverty was just a cover for pro-Russian provocation, and we certainly cannot be tolerant of such manifestations.” “We have gathered here today to take a stand against this poverty,” Jindrich Rajchl, a lawyer leading the non-parliamentary PRO party, told the crowd in central...
New flights will be introduced to Seville, Gdansk, Rimini in Italy, and the Greek island of Skiathos by the low-cost airline Ryanair. In the summer of 2023, the frequency of weekly flights to and from Prague operated by the Irish airline will increase to 285, 22 percent more than last summer. Ryanair’s management expects to carry around 2.3 million passengers during these flights. In addition to the new flights, the airline will increase the frequency of existing flights to 15 additional destinations. “We are delighted that Ryanair is able to continue to expand the range of destinations and the number of weekly flights during the summer schedule. Together we are contributing to the renewal of air traffic,” says Jaroslav Filip, Director of Air Commerce at Prague Airport. The new destinations will be served twice a week. The first aircraft will start taking off to Gdansk on 29 March and will fly every Wednesday and Saturday. Flights to Rimini will also start in March, specifically on 26 March, with departures every Wednesday and Sunday. Flights to Skiathos will start on 2 June and are scheduled for Fridays and Tuesdays, according to the flight schedule. It will be possible to fly to...
The Oscar-winning director Agnieszka Holland received the biggest production grant of 22 million CZK for her new project Franz in the latest session of the Czech Film Fund. The results were announced on 8 March 2023. Inspired by Franz Kafka’s life and work, the film produced by German Xfilms and Polish Metro Films will also involve production companies. A total of 24 feature film projects applied and seven projects were selected, including new films by Jitka Rudolfová, Šimon Holý, Vojtěch Strakatý and Adam Martinec. Šárka Cimbalová is set to produce the feature. “‘Franz will be a dazzling kaleidoscopic mosaic of a film that dramatizes the famous writer’s life and imagination in a series of standalone vignettes that span Kafka’s life from his birth in pre-war Prague, up to his tragic death in Austria in 1924 and into scenes from the future he envisioned,” the trio said in a statement. Holland has previously been nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film for In Darkness and last year her feature Charlatan, about Czechoslovak healer Jan Mikolášek, was shortlisted in the same category. “Kafka was a man of great sensitivity and ill-suited to his time,” Holland said in a statement. “We have a...
by Eryn Taylor-Freeme – Anglo-American University The exhibition “Well Hidden Photographs” at Leica Gallery includes never-before-seen photographs in an unassuming compilation of one of the best, but often overlooked, Czech humanitarian documentary photographers. Aulehla captures scenes of everyday life spanning the 1950s-1980s, primarily in Krnov but also in Olomouc, Ostrava, Brno and Prague, that are shot with a purity that is lightly poetic- a refreshing change in a modern art world obsessed with saturated motifs. He was born in Olomouc in 1931 to a housemaid who later gave him up for adoption. He apprenticed as a bricklayer before being hired by a construction company and later concluded his education at an industrial construction school in Brno. He took up photography as a hobby after he was gifted his first camera at 16 by his grandmother and only abandoned it in 1989 to move into his passion of design. Aulehla was not the only documentary photographer to focus on daily life in the Communist era, as it was a popular topic for Czech and Slovak artists, including Jan Lukas, Erich Einhorn and Karol Kálay. Themes in photojournalism transitioned from the heroic content from the period of social realism to the calm...
Czech headline inflation eased to 16.7% year-on-year in February, reinforcing the view that surging price growth is moving past a peak as the central bank seeks to maintain stable interest rates. Inflation around central Europe has surged in the past year, more than elsewhere in Europe, as food prices have jumped alongside energy costs. Central banks in the region started battling price pressures in 2021, sooner than other European Union policymakers, and have thus ended hiking cycles even as global central banks like the ECB and U.S. Federal Reserve continue to tighten. Central Bank Policy The Czech central bank has held steady on policy since mid-2022 despite criticism it needs to do more to secure inflation returning to its 2% target. Inflation slowed in February, after hitting 17.5% in January amid repricing actions at the start of the year. Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected the headline rate at 16.6% in February. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.6%. Signs Of Discounts Inflation “only symbolically neared the inflation target,” Banka Creditas chief economist Petr Dufek said, adding the first signs of discounts on goods were starting to appear. “Weaker demand, which is seen in falling household consumption and retail sales, should increasingly limit the scope...
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