Politics & Economics

Na Příkopě Among Top 20 World’s Most Expensive Retail Streets

For the very first time, the Czech Republic has ranked in the top twenty most expensive shopping streets in the world. Na Příkopě advanced to the 19th spot in this year’s ranking. The average monthly rental per square metre is almost six thousand crowns. The results come from a study conducted by Cushman & Wakefield. Cushman & Wakefield annually evaluates 446 of the most popular shopping destinations in 65 different countries. The ranking lists the most expensive shopping streets in each country. According to this study, the average monthly rent per square metre on Na Příkopě street amounts to 230 euros (about 5980 CZK), up by five percent from the previous year. The most expensive street in the world is Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, followed by the upper part of Fifth Avenue in New York. In third place was New Bond Street in London, which is the most expensive street in Europe. The annual rent on Na Příkopě amounts to about one-tenth of the rent on Fifth Avenue. “Among the most expensive streets in the Czech Republic are Na Příkopě and Pařížská Street. While Pařížská is the destination of luxury brands, Na Příkopě is a significant street from the point of...

by Prague Morning Nov 19, 2018

Czechs Rally Against PM on Velvet Revolution Anniversary

Tens of thousands of Czechs rallied in Prague on Saturday calling for Prime Minister Andrej Babiš to resign as the country marked the 29th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that toppled the communist regime. Babiš has been charged with misusing European Union subsidies for a farm he transferred to family members, including his son, Andrej Babis Jr. The Czech leader denies wrongdoing. His son told Czech news portal Seznam Zpravy this week he was kept in Crimea against his will so he couldn’t be questioned in the case. Babiš has said his son, who lives in Switzerland, is mentally ill and in Crimea voluntarily. “It is inadmissible that someone under investigation and a StB collaborator is prime minister,” said Mikulas Minar, head of a group that organised a protest by around 20,000 people in the city centre. The Czech premier vowed Friday he would “never resign, never” before leaving to meet his son in Switzerland. Author: red xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonfutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbetbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề sân cỏbáo bóng...

by Prague Morning Nov 18, 2018

Zdeněk Hřib Elected As Prague Mayor

Czech Pirate Party candidate Zdeněk Hřib was elected on Thursday as Prague mayor by the city assembly. A total of 39 members of the 65-seat city assembly supported his candidacy. Hřib was jointly nominated by the Pirate Party and the movements of United Forces for Prague and Prague for Itself, which formed a ruling coalition following the October municipal election in the capital. “I promise that I will treat my duties with due humility and responsibility. [Such an approach] is also needed to address the long-standing problems and challenges that Prague is facing. I believe that I will manage to create a new style of relations with the opposition and local residents,” Hřib said after the election, as broadcast by the local television. Hřib, 37, was born in the town of Slavicin, located near the border with Slovakia. He has been living in Prague since 1999. Hřib studied medicine at the Charles University in Prague, afterward he worked in several medical companies. Since 2013, he has been a member of the Pirate Party, which is the third largest political force in the national parliament’s lower house. Author: red xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu...

by Prague Morning Nov 16, 2018

Czech PM's Son Says Held In Crimea Against His Will

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s younger son claims he was forcibly detained in Crimea by his father’s associates at the time of the investigation of the Stork’s Nest affair. Babiš Senior has been intermittently under investigation since 2015 wherein the prime minister was accused of concealing his ownership of the Čapí Hnízdo (Storks Nest) farm and attached convention centre in order to illegally obtain €2 million in EU subsidies meant for small businesses. Čapí Hnízdo was owned by Agrofert, a Prague-based conglomerate holding company owned by Andrej Babiš, which would have been ineligible for the small business subsidies. In 2007 ownership of the property was transferred to a small anonymous company which was able to apply for the subsidies, but it was later revealed that the shareholders in the new company were Babiš Junior and his sister Adriana; Babiš Senior’s partner – now his wife – Monika; and Monika’s brother Martin Herodes. A brief interview with Seznam reports that Babis’s son, who is also named Andrej, was coerced into traveling to Crimea on a vacation that turned into an “abduction.” He said he had spent some time in a psychiatric institution in the past. Babiš Jr. also revealed that he...

by Prague Morning Nov 13, 2018

PM Babiš Proposes Restoring Writer Kundera's Nationality

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Saturday he had proposed restoring writer Milan Kundera’s Czech nationality, stripped from him by the country’s former communist regime nearly four decades ago. Kundera, whose novel “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” was turned into a 1987 film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, became a naturalized French citizen after emigrating when he was prevented from publishing in his native country. “He really deserves to have his citizenship again,” Babis told Czech CTK agency in Paris where he was attending a commemoration of the 1918 armistice to end WWI. Kundera, now 89, and his wife Vera, were stripped of their nationality in 1979 by the communist regime of then Soviet-era Czechoslovakia. They emigrated to France in 1975. The author’s “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting” published in 1979 explored how citizens lived under the regime. His own life had been under surveillance by the StB secret police. His first novel “The Joke” — his take on the one-party state — led to a ban on his publishing at home. Kundera, born in 1929 in Brno, maintained a complex relationship with his homeland even after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 ended one-party rule in Prague....

by Prague Morning Nov 11, 2018

Czech Unemployment Rate Lowest Since 1997

The October share of unemployed people declined to a new all-time low of 2.8%. This should be this year’s low, but some space for a decline next year might be possible due to structural changes in the labour market Previous figures from the Czech Labour Office reported an unemployment rate of 3% for September and 3.1% for August. The lack of labour market capacities in terms of job vacancies remained substantial, but it increased just slightly from 316,000 to less than 317,000. The lack of employees motivates companies to look for an alternative solution, which is reflected in a higher offer of part-time jobs. According to the Czech Statistical Office, the number of employees working part-time has increased by 20,000 year-on-year in the second quarter of this year. They are usually pension-age workers around 65, or younger in the 25-29 age group. The lowest unemployment rate in October – 1.8 percent – was recorded in the Pardubice Region. The South Bohemian and Plzeň regions had jobless levels of 1.9 percent while in Prague it was 2.0 percent. At the other end of the scale, 4.4 percent of the workforce in the Moravian Silesian Region and 4.3 percent in the Ústí nad Labem...

by Prague Morning Nov 10, 2018

The Czech Republic Reject the UN Migration Pact

Next week the government will discuss the non-accession to the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček (CSSD) told the press. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) said that the treaty blurs the distinction between legal and illegal migration, and Petříček also had reservations about the document. The United States withdrew from the treaty last year, and Austria and Hungary also refused to sign it. The government was debating the document today and instructed the Foreign Minister to prepare the materials for the final resolution next week. According to Petříček, it is clear that the cabinet will not support the pact. The Foreign Minister also told reporters that the government must submit its decision to the Chamber of Deputies by November 15. “We do not like, for example, the ambiguous distinction between illegal and legal migrants, the ambiguity of social rights, or the fact that the compact does not mention the forced return of illegal migrants,” Petříček said in a press statement. In his opinion, the Czech Republic should definitely retreat from the pact. “I believe that we can, and it will be up to the Czech government to duly defend our position so that...

by Prague Morning Nov 08, 2018

Is Airbnb Why Your Rent Got Hiked? Prague Says Yes, Leading to Dispute

In recent years, Prague has seen a huge surge in the number of people offering their rooms or apartments for rent. Over the past five years, Airbnb and other similar platforms are estimated to have increased their offer 20-fold. A quarter of the apartments in central Prague are listed on sites such as Airbnb, say city officials, who blame the services for helping fuel a 50 percent jump in property values since 2013. Residents have petitioned the local government to boost oversight of short-term rentals, and increased regulation of Airbnb Inc. was a central issue in October municipal elections. Candidates pledged to raise taxes, tighten rules, and limit the number of nights flats can be rented each year. Airbnb says it welcomes regulation and insists it’s helped reduce prices for visitors while offering a more personalized experience than staying in a hotel. Some economists caution that politicians should be careful in regulating the services. Airbnb and smaller rivals have helped fuel a tourist boom that pumps $5 billion a year into the Czech economy. That’s little consolation for Czechs who’ve seen the median cost of housing surge to 11 times the country’s average annual salary, the highest level in Europe, according to consulting...

by Prague Morning Nov 08, 2018

Czech Lawmakers Debated Bill to Allow Same-Sex Marriage

The lower house of the Czech Parliament began debating a bill that could give same-sex couples the right to marry. The bill was drafted by a group of lawmakers across the political spectrum. It is supported by the coalition center-left government of Prime Minister Andrej Babis. The amendment follows a country-wide debate led by the Jsme fér (We Are Fair) campaign, promoting the fair treatment of same-sex couples. 67% of Czechs support marriage equality while 97% of Czech gays and lesbians want the chance to get married. A number of European nations have legalized same-sex marriage, most recently Austria, but the Czech Republic could become the first post-Communist member of the European Union to do so. The Czech Republic has been allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter registered partnerships since 2006. Unlike neighboring Poland and Slovakia, the Czech Republic is one of Europe’s most secular societies and religious groups have a relatively weak voice. Author: red xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonfutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbetbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề sân cỏbáo bóng đá...

by Prague Morning Nov 01, 2018

Emmanuel Macron Will Visit Prague in Late October

French President Emmanuel Macron will come to the Czech Republic on October 27th following his visit to Slovakia. The French head of state will meet with Czech President Miloš Zeman and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. The day before, Macron will be in Bratislava meeting with their Slovakian counterparts Andrej Kiska and Peter Pellegrini. Macron will arrive in Prague on the same weekend as the conclusion of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovakia. On Saturday, October 27th, the historic National museum will officially be reopened and the Slovak-Czech exhibition will be launched. Babiš has invited a number of statesmen, but a list of confirmed names has not yet been published by the Czech government. The Czech Army have previously stated that on Sunday, October 28th, there will be a gala parade attended by US Secretary of Defence James Mattis at Vítkov Kiska. The AFP notes that the Czech Republic and Slovakia together with Poland and Hungary are creating the so-called “Visegrad Four” (V4), which is against the EU’s stance on receiving refugees. The French President has not yet visited Poland and Hungary. Author: Holly Webb xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonfutebol...

by Prague Morning Oct 21, 2018

Who Will be the Next Mayor of Prague?

Jan Čižinský of Praha sobě, received the most preferential votes in the city of Prague. In talks to form the government in Prague are three groups: the citizen’s movement Praha sobě, the Pirates and the Spojené síly alliance (TOP 09, STAN and others). The parties are in negotiations and looking at how to align their agendas. The City hall is split, with the ODS having 14 seats, ANO who was last, having 12, and the rest having 13 each. Now the main point of contention is the post of mayor: Jan Čižinský of Praha sobě, should be the leader due to the largest share of preferential votes he received. Although ANO scored in 11 big cities, its loss in the Czech capital has soured the party’s victory. Meanwhile, both the Social Democrats and the Communists – for the first time since 1990 – failed to win a seat to the assembly. In an interview with Czech Radio, political scientist Jiří Pehe said: “I think that Andrej Babiš is deeply unhappy with the results because he spent CZK 130m, which is almost four times more than some other parties did. And he spent CZK 50m only in Prague, which is CZK 5m more than the Civic...

by Prague Morning Oct 12, 2018

Czech PM's Party Wins Municipal Elections

The Czech prime minister’s ANO emerged the strongest party in nationwide municipal elections on Saturday, winning in all regional capitals except two including Prague. It was the first popular test for the minority government formed in July. The quadrennial municipal vote may carry more weight this time as local budgets have helped to keep the overall Czech fiscal balance in surplus in the past two years. “When we look at the regional big cities, in 2014, we had nine victories and now we may have 11. As for the districts, in 2014 we had 13 wins and now we have 17,” Babiš told the news server Seznam. “I think our citizens see that the Ano movement is moving our country forward. To the top of Europe.” With 60 percent of the votes counted, the ANO of Andrej Babis came in third with 15.9 percent in Prague, where it won four years ago. ANO’s coalition partner in the minority government, the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD), looked on course to have no member on the Prague city assembly for the first time ever as the oldest Czech party fared poorly across the country. Author: red xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá...

by Prague Morning Oct 07, 2018

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