News Foreign Minister to make first Czech official visit to China for 15 years
Czech foreign minister Lubomír Zaorálek will fly to Beijing China on Sunday for a three day official visit, the first by a Czech minister for 15 years, the government announced on Wednesday. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the visit was a mark of the government’s desire to reset relations with China. He pointed out that major European countries like Germany, France, and Britain had not let human rights issues get in the way of developing much better relations than those enjoyed by the Czech Republic. Zaorálek said relations with China have been at freezing point and that had stalled trade, export and other deals. China was looking at the possibility of establishing a technology park, probably in Moravia-Silesia, which would focus on high value added production, he added.
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Majority of Czechs in favor of electronic voting
Fifty-seven percent of Czechs say they would welcome the introduction of electronic voting, according to the results of a survey conducted by the STEM agency. Politicians are increasingly open to the idea and the Christian Democrats of the ruling coalition have said they would like to see the option introduced as of 2017. Electronic voting was the subject of a seminar in the lower house on Thursday at which MPs could discuss various aspects of this practice. Estonia was the first and so far only European country to introduce electronic voting eight years ago.
PM backs education minister in matter of financing
Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has thrown his weight behind Education Minister Marcel Chládek who is radically opposed to a proposed cut in financing for the education sector in 2016. Finance Minister Andrej Babiš has proposed slashing the education and research budget by more than a billion crowns next year which the education minister says would have devastating consequences. Following a meeting with Minister Chládek and university rectors on Thursday Prime Minister Sobotka said that he too disagreed with the proposed cuts saying that economizing in the education sector would not increase the country’s competitiveness in the years to come. This year the education sector is operating on 22 billion crowns.
Former police chief sentenced to 20 months in jail for abuse of office
The Brno Municipal Court has sentenced former Brno police chief Jaroslav Přikryl to twenty months in prison for abuse of office and unauthorized handling of data. According to the state attorney, Přikryl repeatedly got his friends and acquaintances out of having to pay fines for traffic offences and he unlawfully manipulated the police database. The former police chief has appealed the verdict.
Prague mayor calls for parliamentary commission to investigate problematic construction of Blanka tunnel
Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová has asked legislators to form a
parliamentary commission which would conduct a thorough investigation into
the problematic construction of Prague’s Blanka tunnel. Following another
unsuccessful meeting with contractors at which she said everyone tried to
lay the blame of everyone else, the mayor said her patience was at an end
and she wanted to know who was responsible for the numerous failings
surrounding the tunnel’s construction. The mayor said it appeared to be a
criminal conspiracy to get as much money from the city’s coffers as
possible.
It recently emerged that the tunnel would not be open until next year at
the soonest, as hundreds of kilometers of water-damaged cables have to be
replaced. The tunnel which has cost Prague 37 billion crowns was originally
meant to open in 2011.
Czech Republic has one of the biggest discrepancies in pay between men and women in the EU
The Czech Republic has one of the biggest discrepancies in pay between men and women within the European Union, according to data provided by Eurostat. While the European average is 16.4 percent, the average discrepancy in salaries for men and women in the Czech Republic is 21.1 percent. Estonia has the highest discrepancy – at 29.9 percent – followed by Austria with 23 percent. The smallest discrepancy in wages is in Slovenia where the difference is a mere 3.2 percent.
Czech Republic calls on Russia to release Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko
The Czech Republic has called for the immediate release of Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko who was persuaded to end her 82-day hunger strike in a Russian jail on Thursday. In a statement on its web page the Czech Foreign Ministry says that the decision of a Russian court to prevent Ms. Savchenko from attending the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is regrettable and violates her parliamentary immunity. The ministry calls for Ms.Savchenko to be released on humanitarian grounds together with other Ukrainian political prisoners. The ministry notes that this would be in keeping with the recently agreed "Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements" and the commitment to release all hostages and detained persons related to the conflict in Ukraine.
Bells toll for victims of Uherský Brod tragedy
Bells tolled and sirens wailed around the country at midday on Thursday in memory of the eight victims of the Uherský Brod shootings. The town is still recovering from the worst incident of violence in the country’s modern history when a deranged sixty-three-year-old man entered a pub and fired indiscriminately at those present. Seven men and one woman – the waitress –were killed. The incident has triggered debate on gun-ownership and the distribution of rapid reaction forces around the country. The Zlín region, where the incident occurred does not have its own rapid reaction force and is covered by the one in Brno which arrived at the scene too late.
Elite tax-evasion unit Cobra producing results
An elite tax-evasion unit code-named Cobra, which was established by the government last year, is reported to have prevented losses to state coffers to the tune of 1.7 billion crowns in the first nine months of its existence. The squad uncovered 11 cases of large-scale tax fraud, opening the way for charges to be brought against 82 persons. Police President Tomáš Tuhý, who briefed the government on the squads’ work on Thursday, said he wanted to expand it by 150 people over the next four years.
Czech PM: Czech Republic has vested interest in joining more NATO military exercises
The Czech Republic has a vested interest in partaking in joint military exercises of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in Thursday in response to the news that the US was considering expanding Operation Atlantic Resolve to cover the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia's southern neighbor, Georgia. Exercises between US troops and Polish, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian forces began last April at these countries’ request as deterrence to possible Russian aggression. The Czech Prime minister said the country would offer to host some of the exercises at its military bases.
Interior minister suggests more power for councils over gun permits
Minister of Interior Milan Chovanec has suggested that local councils be given more power in deciding who is issued with gun permits and their prolongation. Chovanec was speaking following Wednesday’s meeting of the lower house of parliament’s security committee which discussed the shootings in Uherský Brod last week. The minister also suggested that ways of getting the police special intervention squads faster to more distant parts of the country should be investigated. He said that probably would not mean the creation of special units in every region but more likely boosting the current units, for example by providing helicopters, so that they could get to the scene quicker, he added. A report on the options should be drawn up by the end of March. The special intervention squad had to travel from Brno to Uherský Brod, around 90 kilometres or at least an hour away by road.
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