Daily news summary

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Russia could occupy Baltics in days, says Czech general Pavel

Russia could occupy the Baltic States within just two days, according to Czech Army general Petr Pavel. General Pavel, who is due to become chairman of the NATO Military Committee next month, made the comment at a security conference in Prague on Wednesday. He said NATO’s political leaders were not capable of reacting with sufficient speed to altered situations, adding that measures adopted by Europe in connection with the threats of Russia and Islamic State were glaringly ineffective.

Brussels calls on Czech Republic to take in 1,300 refugees on top of previous proposed allocation

The European Commission has asked the Czech Republic to take in over 1,300 asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea who are already in Italy and Greece. Under the plan unveiled on Wednesday, EU states would take in a total of 40,000 such refugees in the next two years. EU officials also repeated a recently announced call for members to take in 20,000 refugees, of which over 500 would go to the Czech Republic. Prague is opposed to such quotas and argues that asylum seekers should only be accepted on a voluntary basis. However, the Czech government cannot block the plan alone as it will be voted on using the qualified majority system.

Bělobrádek: Top Communists should face justice for pre-1989 killings on border

Former senior Communists such as one-time party general secretary Milouš Jakeš and prime minister Lubomír Štrougal should face justice for the deaths of people killed trying to cross the Iron Curtain from Czechoslovakia to the West, says deputy prime minister Pavel Bělobrádek. The chairman of the Christian Democrats said they had committed crimes against humanity that were not bound by a statute of limitations. Mr. Bělobrádek made the comments in the lower house, where he was supporting the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, a group that pushes for the punishment of perpetrators of communist-era crimes.

Police raid energy office over Vesecká letter of appointment

The police’s anti-corruption unit raided three branches of the Energy Regulation Office on Wednesday morning. A spokesperson said officers were searching for the letter of appointment of its deputy chairwoman Renata Vesecká on suspicion that the document contravenes the law on energy. For its part the Energy Regulation Office said the raids involving around 40 police were heavy-handed and violated its independence. Ms. Vesecká was supreme state attorney from 2005 to 2010. At the time of her appointment in November, the Energy Regulation Office said she fulfilled all legal requirements for the post, including a minimum of seven years’ experience in the energy field.

Number of ghettos up as poor move away from urban centres

The number of spots designated as ghettos in the Czech Republic has doubled since 2006, according to a report prepared for the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs by the company GAC. There are now 606 poverty-stricken buildings, streets and districts in the country, the study said. An estimated 115,000 people, many from the Roma minority, live in places designated as socially excluded, compared to 80,000 nine years ago. The authors of the report said the change had come about in part because people were moving from urban centres to outlying areas, leading to more but smaller ghettos.

Problem with contaminated tap water in Prague 6 still unresolved

The problem with contaminated tap water in Prague 6 has not yet been resolved. A spokesman for the Prague Waterworks said on Wednesday it could be several more days before the water, contaminated with coliform bacteria, is once again safe for consumption. Waterworks employees are still searching for the dead-end pipe which is believed to have caused the problem. The water in neigbouring districts is reported to be safe. Meanwhile Prague Waterworks announced on Tuesday they would compensate all those who suffered health problems as a result of the contamination. The fall-out has affected 32,000 residents.

Fine for firm that posted photo of thief on Facebook page lifted

A Czech court has rescinded a fine on a company that posted on the internet a photo of a man who stole a bicycle from its shop. The Office for the Protection of Personal Data had fined the firm Ekolo.cz CZK 5,000 after it put a picture of the alleged thief on its Facebook page. A judge at the Prague Municipal Court said there was no reason that protection should be provided to the perpetrator of a crime, adding that the company had merely been attempting to recover its property. After Ekolo.cz posted the image on Facebook in November 2011 the bike was recovered the next day at a second-hand shop.

Czech trauma team ends mission in Nepal

The Czech trauma team which has been helping to deal with the consequences of the devastating earthquake in Nepal has concluded its mission and is due to return home on Friday, the ctk news agency reports. The 30-member team was made up of twenty doctors and nurses and ten firefighters who helped bring the injured down from hard-to-reach villages in the mountains. Since it started work on May 1, the trauma team provided medical assistance to over 1,100 people. It is leaving much of its equipment and medical supplies in Nepal for the use of the local health authorities.

Bolt achieves best time of year in 200m in Ostrava

The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, ran his quickest 200 metres of the year at Ostrava’s Golden Spike athletics meeting on Tuesday. The Jamaican won the race in 20:13 seconds, shaving seven tenths of a second of his previous best of 2015. World champion Zuzana Hejnová came first in the 400 metres hurdles, the first time she had taken part in the event in almost a year due to injury problems. Hejnová finished just ahead of Czech compatriot Denisa Roslová in a time of 55:13 seconds.