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Current AffairsTopolánek’s Tuscan holiday becomes national cause celebre
There’s usually at least one big news story that breaks the torpid waters
of the so-called “cucumber” or silly season, that time of year when
Czech editors and reporters are desperate for stories because the
country’s
political and social elite are all off on holiday. Well, this year,
ironically, the holiday is the story – the holiday taken by Civic
Democrat leader Mirek Topolánek at a villa in Tuscany. So what’s so
controversial about it? More
Current AffairsInterim PM Fischer’s performance calms nerves ahead of Swedish EU presidency
This Wednesday, Sweden takes over the EU presidency from the Czech
Republic, and, as its slogan says, ‘takes on the challenge’. Like the
Czechs, the Swedes want to use their presidency, which will run until the
end of this year, to focus on the economy and the EU’s relations with
its
neighbours. As far as priorities are concerned, the Czechs and the Swedes
may have been singing from the same hymn sheet, but can the handover
itself
be described as harmonious? I met Swedish Ambassador to the Czech
Republic,
Catherine von Heidenstam, to find out. My first question was whether the
fall of the Czech government in March had complicated matters: More
Current AffairsSocial needs of survivors, private property restitution top agenda of Prague Holocaust conference
The five-day conference on Holocaust era assets, held as the final major
event of the Czech EU presidency, came to a close in Prague on Tuesday.
Representatives of more than 40 countries around the world adopted the
Terezín Declaration – a set of guidelines aimed at providing better care
for Holocaust survivors, as well as at easing the restitution of property
stolen during the Holocaust.
More
Talking PointHow did the Czechs do at the top of the EU?
This Tuesday is the final day of the Czech Republic’s EU presidency
before the country hands over to Sweden on July 1. The six-month
presidency
has seen the Czechs tackle a global financial crisis, an energy dispute
between Russia and Ukraine, a crisis in Gaza, and the toppling of the
country’s own government halfway through. So how did they do? That’s
what we ask in this week’s Talking Point: More
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