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Current AffairsJaruzelski award sparks controversy
The eyes of the world were on Moscow on Monday where 50 world leaders
hailed the defeat of Nazi Germany 60 years ago. But the post war division
of Europe throws a long shadow and behind the smiles and handshakes, not
everyone saw eye to eye on everything. Czech President Vaclav Klaus openly
criticized the fact that one of the WWII heroes being awarded for his role
in helping to defeat Nazism was the former Polish president Wojciech
Jaruzelski.
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One on OneFather Piotr Krysztofiak - a Polish priest in Prague
Fr Piotr Krysztofiak is a Polish priest who has been living in the Czech
Republic for the last eight years. The prior of Prague's Dominican
monastery, he is also parish priest of St Jilij's (St Giles's) church.
When we met there recently, Fr Krysztofiak had interesting things to say
about the number of Polish priests in the Czech Republic, the differences
between Czechs and Poles, being a priest in a largely agnostic country,
what having a Polish pope means to Czechs, and the "pitfalls" of
the Czech language.
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Current AffairsSeventy prominent German intellectuals and politicians make a gesture of reconciliation to their neighbours
Seventy prominent German intellectuals, writers and politicians, including
the chairman of the federal parliament have signed an open letter to the
Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, very publicly renouncing claims to any
property in the neighbouring countries of Central Europe. All the
signatories have one thing in common. They, or their parents, originally
came from what is now the territory of Poland or the Czech Republic, but
were expelled after the Second World War. Millions of ethnic Germans were
forced to move westwards, as the map of Europe was redrawn after the war,
an episode that continues to create tensions within the region. David
Vaughan joins me in the studio. More
Current AffairsThe future of the Visegrad Group within the EU
This week the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four - a loose alliance of 4
central European states -the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland
-met to debate the future of the grouping now that all its members have
joined the European Union. Contrary to the expectations of those who
believe that the Visegrad Group is now obsolete, the prime ministers
decided to keep the grouping active within the EU. Radio Prague's David
Vaughan spoke to Ivan Jancarek, director of the EU section at the Czech
Foreign Ministry about the future role of the Visegrad Four:
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Press ReviewPress Review
The man dominating the papers today is clearly Finance Minister Bohuslav
Sobotka, who has been appointed deputy prime minister by Prime Minister
Vladimir Spidla, and has been given the task of coordinating the public
finance reform process.
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Current AffairsDeputy foreign minister: small EU countries not "ganging up" on big ones
Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Four - Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic
and Slovakia - met at Dobris Chateau outside Prague on Wednesday, ahead of
the inter-governmental conference (or IGC) on the future of Europe. The
Visegrad Four are part of a much larger group of countries unhappy with
the terms of the draft EU constitution to be discussed at the IGC, which
gets underway in Rome on Saturday. The Visegrad Four agreed on a number of
key demands they want to table in Rome, chief among them being the
"one country, one commissioner" principle. Rob Cameron spoke to
Jan Kohout, deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs.
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Current AffairsVisegrad PMs meet in Czech Republic ahead of crucial IGC meeting in Rome
Prime Ministers of the so-called "Visegrad Four" are meeting at a
chateau outside Prague on Wednesday, for talks ahead of the
inter-governmental conference (IGC) on the draft EU constitution. The V4
meeting, bringing together the premiers of Poland, Hungary, the Czech
Republic and Slovakia, is an attempt to co-ordinate the positions of the
four Visegrad countries before the IGC gets underway in Rome. Rob Cameron
reports.
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