News Government nominates army chief Pavel for senior NATO post
The Czech government has approved the candidature of the chief of staff of the Czech Army, Petr Pavel, for the post of chairman of NATO’s Military Committee. Speaking after a cabinet meeting on Monday night, the Czech minister of defence, Martin Stropnický, said General Pavel had a “very solid chance” of obtaining the position, which is second only to the secretary general in the NATO hierarchy. For his part, the general said if he wins the post in a vote in mid September it will be a great honour for the Czech Republic and an expression of trust on the part of the country’s allies.
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State employees to see bump in salaries
State employees could see a rise of around 1,876 crowns per month, bringing their average monthly salary to 28,855 crowns, the Czech News Agency reports. According to the news service, the amount has been accounted for in the government's draft state budget for 2017. The pay bump represents a rise of around seven percent.
'Town centre' the main theme of Architecture Day
The first weekend of October sees the return of Den Architektury (Architecture Day) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia: some 50 Czech towns and cities are taking part. The theme in this year's sixth edition is the 'city centre'. Key sites in Prague and other towns will be open to the public as part of the event.
Povodí Moravy to help boost sturgeon numbers
The state-owned company Povodí Moravy (Moravia Watershed) is aimimg to release 25,000 specimens of small sturgeon into the Morava and Dyje Rivers over the next five years. The news was confirmed by company spokesman Petr Chmelař. The idea is to boost the sturgeon population in the Danube River and its tributaries. The project will cost around half-a-million crowns.
Tennis: Kvitová downs Cibulkova at Wuhan Open
Czech tennis player Petra Kvitová has won her first WTA tournament this year, declassing Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6:1, 6:1 at the Wuhan Open in China. It is her first WTA triumph since last August. Fellow Czech player Lucie Šafařová with partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands, won the doubles in the Wuhan Open, meaning that Šafařová will qualify this year for the prestigious WTA Finals.
President's spokesman says article not the one head of state referred to
The president's spokesman, Jiří Ovčáček, has rejected suggestions that an article called 'Hitler - Gentleman' published in Rudé Právo in 1937 and uncovered recently by a Czech historian is the article to which President Zeman referred in a speech in 2015. The article found bears striking similarities to references made by the head of state but with notable exceptions: the article was not written by journalist Ferdinand Peroutka and was against and not in favour of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Mr Zeman had also said the article had been from 1936. Mr Ovčáček suggested the find could be a useful "clue" in the continued search.
"Hitler - Gentleman" article found - but was not written by Peroutka and was critical of Nazism, contrary to president's claim
An article called "Hitler - Gentleman", referred to by President
Milǒs Zeman in a speech in January 2015, has been found, ending
speculation about its existence ever since. But the article in question,
published on February 24,1937, appeared not in Přítomnost, as Mr Zeman
claimed, but in Rudé Právo. Novinky.cz and other sources report that most
significantly, it was not written by legendary Czech journalist Ferdinand
Peroutka and was not favorable but critical of Hitler and Nazism.
According to available information, the article in the newspaper was
reaction to a story published a day earlier in the agrarian right-wing
daily Venkov, which had quoted Czech legionnaires describing Hitler as an
"affable fellow" and someone they did not think wanted to start a
war in Europe. The article, which featured no byline, was labelled an
unprecedented provocation by Rudé Právo.
The president's claim that the 'Gentleman' article was
written by Ferdinand Peroutka led to a lawsuit from the journalist's
granddaughter; a court recently ordered the head of state to apologize, but
the Office of the President filed an appellate complaint in response.
The 'Hitler-Gentleman' article was reportedly uncovered by
historian Jan Galandauer while conducting other research. The
president's spokesman, Jiří Ovčáček, reacted with a tweet on
Saturday morning, saying he considered the find "an interesting
clue".
Czech officials attend Peres funeral
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek joined world leaders in Jerusalem on Friday to pay their last respects to former Israeli president and prime minister Shimon Peres. President Zeman, who did not attend the funeral, sent a message of condolences. People in the Czech Republic who wish to pay their last respects to the Israeli statesman and 1994 Nobel Peace Prize winner can do so at the Israeli Embassy in Prague on Wednesday October 5. Among the first to sign the condolence book at the embassy were the Speaker of the lower house Jan Hamáček, Culture Minister Daniel Herman and Deputy Foreign Minister Václav Kolaja.
Political analyst: Czech banks would withstand Deutsche Bank’s potential fall
The potential collapse of Deutsche Bank would not seriously threaten the Czech banking sector, the ctk news agency said on Friday, citing a number of financial experts. The health of the German lender came under scrutiny after the U.S. Justice Department suggested it pay 14 billion dollars to settle a number of investigations related to mortgage securities. It’s fall, should the German government refuse a bailout, would hit a number of European financial institutions, but according to analyst Lukas Kovanda of Roklen Group, Czech banks are stable enough to withstand the inevitable repercussions.
President Zeman warns against Islamic radicalism in Rhodes
Addressing an international conference in Rhodes, President Miloš Zeman warned of the danger of Islamic radicalism, saying Islamic State was like a social cancer spreading from Iraq and Syria with the aim of destroying other civilizations. He compared it to Nazism which first set out to destroy the Jews, then the Slavs and then more and more nations. Mr. Zeman has come under fire for attending the Rhodes event annually held by Russian businessman and close friend of President Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Yakunin. The former Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, is also due to address the gathering.
MEPs demand action on Lety pig farm
Over 80 MEPs have signed an appeal for the European Commission to secure the removal of a pig farm at Lety, south Bohemia, built on the site of a former Romany concentration camp. In a letter to the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, its signatories point out that the Czech Republic failed to resolve the shameful problem in three decades and action is long overdue. Several Czech governments pledged to remove the pig farm from Lety, but failed to find money for a buyout. The Sobotka government recently indicated it was close to finding a solution, but no details have been released on the progress made. Some 1,300 Czech Romanies passed through the Lety camp during WWII; over 300 of them died there, while another 500 were deported to Auschwitz.
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