Politics & Economics

Germany to Give Czechs 15 Tanks to Help it Arm Ukraine

Germany will give the Czech Republic 15 Leopard 2 tanks, the German defence ministry said, part of a “ring exchange” program under which Berlin aims to help countries pass their stocks of Soviet weaponry to Ukraine to help it fight Russia. The ministry said it would pay for the transaction and train the Czechs to use the Leopard 2 A4 tanks. The Czechs have existing stocks of old Soviet tanks with which Ukrainian soldiers are already familiar. “The exchange is another good example of how we are helping Ukraine in its brave fight against Russian aggression,” said Defence Minister Christine Lambert. “The Czechs deliver heavy weapons, and we fill the resulting holes with Leopard tanks.” Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said the move showed Germany’s appreciation of her country’s military help to Ukraine. The Czechs have given Ukraine Soviet-era heavy weapons worth at least €124 million. Prague has not disclosed the exact equipment, though local media reports suggest it had sent Soviet-made T-72 tanks and other heavy technology to Ukraine. The Czech Republic also talked to Germany about purchasing up to 50 more new Leopard A7+ tanks. Zelenskyy says the war will be long in nightly address Ukrainian President Volodymyr...

by Prague Morning May 19, 2022

Current Czech Gas Reserves Would Last Until the End of Summer if Russia Halted Supply

Should Russian gas supplies be halted, Czechia has sufficient reserves to last until the end of the summer, the country’s Industry Minister Jozef Síkela has claimed. Czech gas reserves are growing rapidly and had exceeded 1.287 billion cubic meters by Thursday morning, and domestic gas storage tanks are now almost 40 percent full, the minister revealed. “Compared to consumption in previous years, if supplies from Russia are stopped, current stocks should last at least until the end of the summer,” Síkela affirmed. Czechia Prime Minister Petr Fiala also confirmed the current capacity status Czech gas reserves. “Today, the tanks are already 40 percent full, and that’s a huge shift, and it’s the most ever at this time of year. We will reach at least 80 percent of the tank capacity before the start of the winter season,” said Fiala. According to Síkela, current gas reserves have more than doubled from last year. The growth rate of stocks is among the highest in Europe. Deliveries to the Czech Republic are smooth, and the storage tanks are filling at a rate of over 25 million cubic meters per day. This corresponds to approximately twice the daily consumption in the summer. The suspension of gas supplies...

by Prague Morning May 17, 2022

May 14th, 1955: The Establishment of the Warsaw Pact

On this day in 1955, the Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites signed a treaty in Warsaw, Poland, establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense pact dominated by Moscow. Its initial members, besides the Soviet Union, were Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Albania was expelled in 1962 because Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, held that the Albanians had strayed too far from the Soviet orbit, turning to China for support. Formation of the Warsaw Pact was triggered by the rearming of West Germany and its inclusion in NATO, which was seen by the Kremlin as imperiling its interests. West Germany had joined NATO nine days earlier, on May 5. The introduction to the treaty cited “Western Germany, which is being remilitarized, and her inclusion in the North Atlantic bloc, which increases the danger of a new war and creates a threat to the national security of peace-loving states.” Like NATO, the Warsaw Pact focused on the need to maintain a coordinated defense among its member states. When the Kremlin decided to use military force to put down anti-communist revolts in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968, the Soviet hierarchy justified its actions...

by Prague Morning May 14, 2022

Czech Republic Wants to Invite Ukrainian President Zelensky to Prague Summit

During the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Czech Republic would like to hold a summit with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenský, Minister of European Affairs Mikuláš Bek (STAN) said in an interview with ČTK. According to Mr. Bek, the European summit should be devoted to a key topic, such as energy security, adding that “the government might drop the original plan to stage several events outside Prague, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and economic problems.” The six-month presidency begins in less than two months, and its agenda is likely to be dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and related economic, energy and migration issues. “We would like the Ukrainian president to be a guest at the summit,” Bek said. The meeting could take place at the beginning of October at Prague Castle. According to Bek, one of Zelenský’s advisers will arrive in Prague in the coming weeks. He would also like the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyn, to attend the informal General Affairs Council in July. Czech Republic to replace Russia on rights body The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Tuesday for the Czech Republic...

by Prague Morning May 13, 2022

Czech Senate Recognizes Russian Actions in Ukraine as Genocide

The upper house of the Czech parliament passed a resolution Wednesday urging the government to recognize suspected war crimes in Ukraine as genocide. “We criticize the crimes that Russian troops are committing in this operation, which are war crimes,” Senator Pavel Fisher told lawmakers in the Czech Senate, adding that “because they are based on ethnicity, language, affiliation, place of residence, [they] basically bear the hallmarks of genocide.” The motion, which passed by 55 votes to 1, follows similar moves by Lithuanian lawmakers Tuesday — they also recognized Russia as a “terrorist state” — and Estonia in late April. Outside Europe, only Canada’s parliament has labeled Moscow’s actions as genocide. The move comes as Ukraine prepares to launch its first war crimes trial, with three Russian prisoners of war accused of raping and murdering civilians set to face a court hearing. Kyiv’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said more than 10,700 crimes by Russians have been registered since the war began in late February. Responding to the resolution, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Czech Republic lauded the senators. “The Czech Senate has just recognized … the genocide of the Ukrainian people,” Yevhen Perebyinis wrote on Facebook. “Thank you!” Genocide is defined by the U.N. as a “proven intent on the part of perpetrators...

by Prague Morning May 12, 2022

Czech Republic Elected to Replace Russia on U.N. Rights Council

The United Nations General Assembly elected the Czech Republic to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Tuesday to replace Russia, which was suspended last month over its invasion of Ukraine and then immediately quit the 47-member body. Russia had been in its second year of a three-year term. The Czech Republic will complete that term on the council, which cannot make legally binding decisions. Its decisions carry political weight, however, and it can authorize investigations. The Czech Republic was elected with 157 votes in favor, while 23 countries abstained. Its terms start immediately. The Human Rights Council is due to hold a special session on Ukraine on Thursday, an official said on Monday, after Kyiv called for a review of the situation there, including reports of mass casualties in Mariupol. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said he was very happy about the result of the election and thanked UN member states for their trust and support. The United States led the rare push to suspend Russia after its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation.” Libya was suspended from the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2011 over violence against protesters by forces loyal to then-leader...

by Prague Morning May 10, 2022

Czech Unemployment Rate Falls to 3.3%

Unemployment in the Czech Republic fell by one-tenth of a percentage point month-on-month to 3.3 percent in April. The exact unemployment rate in the Czech Republic varies due to different metrics and classifications, but nonetheless is still one of the lowest on the continent. The latest estimate from the Czech Statistical Office, which counts labor-force sample surveys, put unemployment at 3.3 percent in April. The number of unemployed people across the EU is falling — down from 7.5% in January 2021 to nearly 6.2% in January 2022 — as economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. A spokesperson for the Czech Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said the unemployment rate is indeed “very low” and no significant changes are expected in the near future. “At the same time, however, we have hundreds of thousands of available jobs,” the spokesperson said. “People who want to work can still find a suitable job in the Czech Republic.” Over 344,000 jobs were offered by employers in the Czech Republic in April, which was a fall of roughly 16,000 in March. Nearly 244,000 people were out of work last month, according to official data released on Monday. Europe The eurozone unemployment rate was 6.8%...

by Prague Morning May 09, 2022

Czech Republic in Talks on EU Oil Embargo Exemption, PM Says

The Czech Republic will seek an exemption period to the European Union’s proposed embargo of Russian oil, gaining time for pipeline capacities to be increased, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday. “We are ready to support this decision (on sanctions including oil), given the Czech Republic will have some postponement until capacity is increased in oil pipelines which can deliver oil to the Czech Republic,” Fiala said. “We are trying to get that postponement for two, maybe three years.” The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a phased oil embargo on Russia, along with other tough measures to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. The measures include phasing out supplies of Russian crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of 2022. The Czech Republic has been seeking an increase to the capacity of the TAL pipeline – running from Italy via Austria to Germany – which is waiting for approval by Bavarian authorities. Fiala said he would debate the issue with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a visit to Berlin on Thursday. The Czech Republic joins others EU countries seeking a longer transition to introduce the ban. Slovakia, which gets nearly all its crude imports from Russia, wants a...

by Prague Morning May 04, 2022

Czech Central Bank Seen Raising Main Rate to 5.50%, Highest Since 1999

The Czech National Bank is likely to raise its main rate by 50 basis points to 5.50% on May 5, a Reuters poll suggested on Monday, pushing borrowing costs to their highest level since 1999 to face still-surging inflation. The central bank has already raised the two-week repo rate by 425 basis points since June, tightening aggressively to tackle inflation which rose to a 24-year high of 12.7% in March. Energy costs have been a main driver of inflation, made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the bank has seen strong domestic demand adding to pressure at home. In a Reuters poll, all 11 analysts expected the central bank to deliver another 50-basis point hike on Thursday, matching the rise delivered at the end of March. Some analysts had earlier raised the prospect of a 75-basis-point hike, but have pulled back amid more cautious central bank comments. Central bank Vice-Governor Marek Mora said in an April 26 interview with Reuters that the bank faced a dilemma whether to raise interest rates further as inflation soars but while demand gets hit by falling real incomes. Vice-Governor Tomas Nidetzky said last week he expected there would be a debate between a...

by Prague Morning May 03, 2022

Prague to Host Several Cultural and Educational Events During EU presidency

This MoU presents a unique opportunity for the capital to present its own priorities to the rest of Europe. The city will organize the events either alone or in cooperation with its external organizations and partners. “Prague wants to show that it is focused and will continue to focus on ambitious climate policies leading to increased energy self-sufficiency, smart solutions, culture, education, science and innovation. The presidency is also an opportunity for us to remind ourselves of the concrete benefits of EU membership for the people of Prague,” Mayor Zdeněk Hřib said. During the presidency, the capital will organize and/or support many cultural and educational events or political meetings, conferences, or summits. At the turn of June and July, for example, a week-long public educational event will take place in honor of the opening of the Czech presidency (discussions, presentations of EU-funded projects, etc.) or joint events with Paris, the capital of France, after who the Czech Republic will take over the presidency. The plan is to connect experts and artists from Prague and Paris: the topic will be, among other things, upcycling and sustainable fashion and design. In July, the prestigious COTER (Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget) meeting will take place in Prague. In September, the city plans to host a direct dialogue of European...

by Prague Morning May 01, 2022

Czech Foreign Minister Calls for West to Send ‘Weapons, Weapons, Weapons’ to Ukraine

The Czech foreign minister’s three words of advice to the Biden administration are to send “weapons, weapons, weapons” to Ukraine from American and western arsenals so Kyiv is not relying on leftover Soviet Union stockpiles. “U.S. industry and [the American] Army play a key role” in “weakening Russia” and setting the stage for Ukraine’s victory in the war now entering its third month, Jan Lipavsky said Tuesday at an online Atlantic Council forum. Ukrainian armed forces have proven they can effectively “use highly efficient drones … to help artillery” destroy Russian targets and also use anti-air systems, including Stinger missiles, to prevent Russian dominance of the skies, Lipavsky said. He added that training times for proficiency could be reduced under the pressures of combat. Lipavsky admitted that “there may be issues” with Soviet-era equipment shipped from the Czech Republic and Poland to Ukraine. To correct the problems, he said Prague “is helping with repair work” so the armor can be fielded quickly, as Moscow shifts its forces eastward. Prague has also shipped multiple launch rocket systems, artillery and armored personnel carriers to Kyiv since the Russians attack. “Honestly, I think our [NATO’s and the European Union’s] policy decisions were right” to...

by Prague Morning Apr 30, 2022

If Russia Cuts Gas Deliveries, Czech Republic ‘Could be in Serious Trouble”

There are different assessments about the impact of a Russian gas cut to the Czech Republic, but with the country receiving nearly all of its gas from Russia, the results could be dire. “When someone says to shut down the valves with Russian gas, they have no idea what they are talking about. I do not wish a return to Middle Ages unto anyone,” said former Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, According to Topolánek, the Czech Republic could not quickly make up for the Russian gas. The Czech Republic is 98 percent dependent on Russian gas, compared to just 31 percent for Poland. The consequences of Russia stopping the deliveries would thus be destructive for both households and businesses. In Topolánek’s view, the Czech Republic could not depend on Germany or countries in south-eastern Europe either, as those would have to cover their needs first. The current prime minister, Peter Fiala, offers a slightly more sanguine outlook, saying yesterday that if Russia ceased its gas supplies to the Czech Republic, the country would manage the situation for some time but would then need help from the European Union, according to Czech news outlet Idnes. “We can deal with this for some...

by Prague Morning Apr 29, 2022

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