News | All stories

The two largest Czech trade union groups have announced they will hold a public rally on Saturday, September 13 in Prague in protest against the government's proposed public finance reforms. The Czech and Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions and the Association of Independent Trade Unions agree that the current state of the public finance is unsustainable and needs a thorough reform, but they find the government's draft plans unacceptable.

The reforms include tax hikes, pension, health, and social system reforms, as well as other austerity measures, including massive lay-offs in the state administration. The Unions claim that the reforms will in effect primarily hurt employees, families with young children, and pensioners. Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla admitted that minor changes were possible but he does not want make any substantial changes to the draft.

Heart specialists at a Prague hospital have begun examining nine Iraqi children whose heart problems were diagnosed in recent weeks by Czech army

doctors in Basra, southern Iraq. The children arrived in the Czech capital by military plane on Sunday as part of the Czech Republic's contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq. They are among the over 5,000 Basra-area civilians who have been treated by doctors and nurses from the Czech field hospital stationed in Basra since May. According to Motol hospital cardiologist Dr. Vaclav Chaloupecky, the five girls and four boys were born with serious heart defects and had little chance of receiving adequate medical care in their home country. Each child will need to spend over a month in hospital. They were selected for special care from a group of about 30 children diagnosed by army doctors. Theirs is the second group of Basra children flown to Prague for medical care since the army field hospital opened a paediatric unit in July.

Nine seriously ill Iraqi children arrived in Prague on Sunday afternoon to get free medical care. The five girls and four boys will undergo heart operations at Prague's Motol hospital. The children aged between one and ten years are accompanied by their relatives and arrived in Prague as part of a humanitarian programme under which seriously ill Iraqi citizens are offered free medical care in the Czech Republic. The programme was approved by parliament in July.

The Austrian Supreme Court has ruled that Austrian courts must deal with lawsuits against the south Bohemian nuclear power plant Temelin, thus overturning a ruling by a lower court that these suits were out of Austrian courts' jurisdiction. The decision was welcomed by representatives of Upper Austria and by environmentalists who have been saying for years that Temelin is not safe and presents a threat to neighbouring Austria. Many of them have filed suits with Austrian courts.

EU experts say the Czech agricultural sphere is lagging behind in preparations for EU membership. Unnamed sources at the European Commission have said that an EU progress report, to be published in the autumn, will emphasize the need to speed up structural changes in the last months leading up to EU membership. The commission's experts warn that if the Czech Republic fails to make up for the lost time in this field it could have a serious effect both on the country's farmers and on consumers. The field of veterinary legislation in particular has been found seriously lacking.

The former Czech culture minister, writer, journalist and dissident in exile Pavel Tigrid has died in Paris at the ago of 85. The former Czech president Vaclav Havel said he had received the news with a heavy heart, describing Mr. Tigrid as a good and brave man who had left behind a precious legacy. Culture minister Pavel Dostal described him as a legend of Czech journalism. Pavel Tigrid emigrated from his homeland twice: once during the Nazi occupation and again after the communists took power in 1948. During the war he worked as a journalist for the London based Czechoslovak government in exile, and in later years he worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He returned to Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism in 1989.

More than half of all primary and secondary schools in the country intend to join the one day token strike in protest of low wages on Monday. The Education Ministry said on Friday that it could make no more concessions, and that it had done its utmost for teachers within the government proposed cuts in spending. The Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka likewise confirmed that there could be no question of allotting extra finances for teachers' pay. Tax officials, employees of land registry and social welfare offices also intend to join the one day protest strike. Meanwhile, the leaders of the governing coalition parties are to meet with officials of the Bohemian and Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions on Monday to discuss the public finance reform and trade unions' suggestions for its modification. The Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has warned trade unions however not to expect any major concessions.

The Czech Republic has said it will support Croatian ambitions to join the European Union if Zagreb cooperates with the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. On a working visit to Zagreb, the Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda said that the Czech Republic was willing to help Croatia as a friendly country in the negotiating process for EU membership, but he said Croatia must meet all conditions for membership. One of the key conditions is cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal, which means that Croatia must extradite its soldiers, including generals, who are charged with war crimes to the ICTY. Croatia is seen as having been reluctant to cooperate in the past, having failed to arrest its prime war crimes suspect, army general Ante Gotovina.

More than half of all primary and secondary schools in the country intend to join the one day token strike in protest of low wages on Monday. The Education Ministry said on Friday that it could make no more concessions, and that it had done its utmost for teachers within the government proposed cuts in spending. The Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka likewise confirmed that there could be no question of allotting extra finances for teachers' pay. Tax officials, employees of land registry and social welfare offices also intend to join the one day protest strike. Meanwhile, the leaders of the governing coalition parties are to meet with officials of the Bohemian and Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions on Monday to discuss the public finance reform and trade unions' suggestions for its modification. The Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has warned trade unions however not to expect any major concessions.

It appears that the former head of the Czech Bar Association, Karel Cermak, will be appointed as justice minister. Mr Cermak confirmed on Wednesday that Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla had asked him to take the post and said he would be willing to accept. It is expected that the prime minister will announce his choice to succeed Pavel Rychetsky on Friday. Mr Spidla has had a great deal of trouble finding a replacement for Mr Rychetsky, who stepped down last month; the prime minister is currently himself acting as caretaker justice minister.