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...
A month after fleeing her home in central Ukraine with her three sons, Yulia Sarycheva is sharing a pot of tea with a pair of artists who are putting them up in their home in an old Prague suburb. The fact their hosts Peter Bankov and his wife Yulia Fedulova are Russians makes no difference to the 41-year-old from the city of Dnipro. “I understand this is a political situation. It does not apply to people,” Sarycheva said. Sarycheva and her sons are among the 4.2 million people estimated by the United Nations to have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. Bankov, 52, said it felt natural to help partly because his mother’s Jewish family was once uprooted too, only in their case by Nazi Germany. “Many years ago my family were like refugees,” he said. Around 45,000 Russians live in the Czech Republic, according to the Interior Ministry, and among them, Bankov and Fedulova are not alone in supporting Ukrainians. Bankov and Fedulova took in Sarycheva and her sons Serafin, 8, Sava, 12, and Sergey, 15, after an appeal from Fedulova’s church in Prague. After the family left their home in Dnipro, they headed first...
Prague City Hall introduced the new orientation system on the city streets and in public transit. By 2023, travelers will gradually see new information displays, signs, and maps. Sixteen graphic studios took part in the international competition, won by three Czech agencies – Side2, A69 and Superior Type. The project wants to standardize the current disparate elements of navigation and improve the comprehensibility of information for residents and tourists. The City Hall notes that the current navigation system was developed in the late 1970s and 1980s. “Prague has a new, clear, and citywide system of signs and navigation. I want everyone to be able to easily find information about their itinerary and not get lost. Today it often happens, for example, when you are looking for the right exit from the subway, or at busy tram interchange points,” said Adam Scheinherr, Deputy Mayor of Transport. “Currently, we have counted eight different information systems in the metropolis, each with its own administrator – for example, in the metro, and in the streets of different city districts,” added Scheinherr. The pilot project will take place this summer. Travelers will be able to test electronic boards at Prosek, Ládví and Budějovicka.
The Czech Republic has issued a collectible banknote called Sláva Ukrajině. The design of the banknote is the work of award-winning printmaker and illustrator Eva Hašková, who has already worked on commemorative banknotes in the past, such as one depicting the First Republic Finance Minister Alois Rašín. The front of the banknote displays the statue of Beregini on Independence Square in Kyiv. On the back, you can see Ukrainian flags and the oldest church in Kiev – St. Sophia Cathedral. This is a charity project. All proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Post Bellum organization, which is raising funds to help the people of Ukraine. The 20,000 banknotes were created by the coin maker České dukáty and the State Printing Works of Securities (STC). The cost of a single banknote is 1500 CZK and you can buy it here Latest news about Ukraine in the Czech Republic The part of Prague’s Korunovační street along which the Russian Embassy is located has been officially renamed “Ukranian heroes” street. The renaming was approved by Prague City Hall last month. The Czech Republic has now issued nearly 260,000 special visas to Ukrainian refugees, according to the Ministry of...
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees may want to stay in the Czech Republic after the end of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, with Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan estimating as many as a third of current refugees may request to stay. A sociological study by PAQ Research, focused on the integration of refugees, gave a similar figure, in addition to highlighting several other waves of migration that may materialize in the coming years. Speaking to the Security Committee on Thursday, Rakušan revealed that the number of incoming refugees had been declining, however, according to him, this was not a reason for optimism. “The bombing can start, then the waves will strengthen significantly again,” Rakušan said. According to the minister, a “significant number” of current refugees will want to stay in the Czech Republic even after the war. According to him, historical experience stemming from other migration crises could be as much as one-third. “It is necessary to discuss whether this represents an opportunity for the Czech Republic or whether it only means risk,” he told the committee. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Czechia has granted special visas to more than 254,000 people fleeing the war. Those in the country can stay for one year, however, some politicians have...
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 owner of the Czech web portal and search engine Seznam.cz, Ivo Lukacovic, has sent 100 million crowns for the purchase of arms of Ukraine, in reaction to pictures and reports from the Ukrainian town Bucha after the departure of Russian soldiers who occupied it. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala congratulated Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on his election victory. “After the elections, I believe Hungary will be more actively involved in dealing with the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Europe must be united and must support Ukraine,” Fiala said. The Czech Republic has now issued nearly 260,000 special visas to Ukrainian refugees, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The number a week previously was 236,000, though there has been a slow-down in daily numbers. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees may want to stay in the Czech Republic after the end of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, with Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan estimating as many as a third of current refugees may request to stay. A 19-year-old student has been charged with murdering his teacher...
The owner of Seznam.cz, Ivo Lukačovič, says he will send another CZK 100 million to the Ukrainian Embassy in the Czech Republic. The owner of Seznam.cz, Ivo Lukačovič, tweeted this morning that after watching videos of the massacres in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, he decided to send CZK 100 million to the Ukrainian Embassy to acquire arms to defend itself from Russia. Other Czech donors include Škoda Auto, which has donated CZK 10 million, the investment group PPF and The Kellner Family Foundation, which will give CZK 100 million to educate and integrate the children of refugees from Ukraine. A destroyed town Bucha, a commuter town of around 37,000 outside Kyiv, as well as the nearby town of Irpin, saw fierce fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Bucha was occupied by the Russian army on the third day of the war, on February 26, and remained inaccessible for more than a month. Shelling stopped on Thursday and Ukrainian forces were only able to fully enter the town a few days ago. Ukraine’s prosecutor-general Iryna Venediktova claimed bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns around the capital Kyiv on Sunday that were recaptured from Russian forces. Those...
Václav Havel Airport Prague won, based on passengers survey results, the 2021 Airport Service Quality Award. Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, annually recognizes airports with services rated by travellers as the most satisfactory. Václav Havel Airport Prague won this award in the category of European airports with 15 to 25 million passengers handled for the fourth time in a row. “The COVID-19 pandemic continued to have a major impact on passenger traffic in 2021 due to constantly evolving measures and new expectations affecting how the airport experience was perceived. For us, this award is a symbol of recognition that we have gone the right direction and fulfilled our obligations to all our customers well. I would especially like to thank our employees, because thanks to them we earned the award for the fourth time in a row,” says Jiří Pos, Chairman of Prague Airport Board of Directors. From the data collected in 2021 from over 370,000 surveys, 111 awards were won by 88 airports around the world. The award categories include Best Airports by Size (passengers per year) and Region, as well as Best Hygiene Measures by Region. “After a second year of the pandemic, this year’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Award winners are especially reflective of customer...
In the beginning, was the word, and the word was Cimrman. It was in 2013 that Emilie Machalová, a director, uttered it to her friend Brian Stewart, a Prague-based British actor. She described Cimrman as the go-to standard for understanding Czech culture: If Brian (albeit performing under the pseudonym Ben Bradshaw) really wanted to grasp our humour, then getting to know the legendary Cimrman was a must. Brian was open to the idea. They watched the original recording of Záskok (The Stand-In) from 1994, and the British actor was surprised to find that despite not understanding much Czech, he had a lot of fun. They both surmised that if you can ‘get’ comedy without understanding the language, you must be dealing with quite extraordinary work, capable of reaching out across cultures; after a short discussion, they agreed to join forces, to craft an English translation. They asked for permission from Aura-Pont s.r.o., the agency representing Zdeněk Svěrák and the estate of Ladislav Smoljak. After submitting the first proposal, Zdeněk Svěrák’s daughter Hana Jelínková, a qualified English teacher, also joined the project as a reviewer; all the texts were given a final check. Both Brian and Emília very much welcomed her participation, since it had been their...
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 Ministry of Interior has thus far spent CZK 10 billion on managing the refugee crisis which sprung up as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the head of the ministry, Vít Rakušan, told Czech Television on Sunday. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky expressed support for Moldova’s course towards the EU while visiting Chisinau together with his Slovak and Austrian counterparts. Czech households should not have their gas deliveries affected if the commodity stops entering the continent from Russia, Transport Minister Martin Kupka told CNN Prima News on Sunday. In January, banks and building societies in the Czech Republic granted mortgages in a total volume of around CZK 32.6 billion, a drop by more than a quarter on December, the news site Aktualne.cz reported, citing data by the Czech Banking Association. Despite that, property prices in the Czech Republic continue to break records. The Czech economy grew by 3.3 percent year-on-year in 2021 and by 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the refined estimate by the Czech Statistics...
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