News Finance Minister Andrej Babiš calls on NATO to destroy human smugglers’ ships
Finance Minister and ANO leader Andrej Babiš has called on NATO to destroy human smugglers’ ships in the Mediterranean. In a press release issued on Wednesday, Mr Babiš said NATO should launch an operation similar to the Operation Ocean Shield launched against Somali pirates in August this year. He also suggested NATO should strengthen security on Turkey’s boarders. The Finance Minister said he wanted to discuss the topic with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is scheduled to arrive in Prague on Wednesday afternoon for a two-day visit.
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Czech police to help protect Hungarian border with Serbia as of November
Fifty Czech police officers will assist Hungary in patrolling its stretch of the Schengen border from November 1. They will help secure the border with Serbia in three different localities, a spokesman for the Police Presidium said on Friday. The officers, who will serve at the border for a period of one month, are due to depart at the end of October. Twenty Czech soldiers have been operating in the area since last week.
Prague councillors dismiss four members of City Hall Assembly
Prague councillors have removed four out of eleven members of the City Hall Assembly from office, including the Green Party deputy mayor Matěj Stropnický, citing poor performance. The head of the Green Party, Ondřej Mirovský, said the dismissal of Mr Stropnický was a blatant termination of the coalition agreement. The City Hall has been governed by a three-way coalition of the Greens, the Christian Democrats and Mayors and Independents. Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová said on Monday that the functioning of the coalition has not been affected, adding that further steps will be debated next week.
Eduardo Mendoza Garriga awarded Franz Kafka Prize
Spanish novelist Eduardo Mendoza Garriga has been presented with this year’s Franz Kafka Prize, which the Franz Kafka Society annually awards for outstanding literary work and which carries a reward of $10,000. Mendoza Garriga, a contemporary historical Spanish novelist, is the 15th winner of the Franz Kafka Prize, the only international literary prize awarded in the Czech Republic. The international jury praised his narrative skills, human approach to the depicted events and a sharp sense of humour.
Norwegian ambassador says Norwegian courts will act fast on Michalák brothers case
The Norwegian Ambassador to Prague Siri Ellen Sletner has said that the Norwegian courts will act as speedily as possible in dealing with the case of the Michalák brothers and the family will be able to make use of all the legal services Norway offers in such circumstances. Ms Michaláková lost the right to have regular contact with her children on the suspicion of past sexual abuse but the allegations were never proven in court. Recently, the Norwegian authorities ruled the younger child could be adopted by his foster parents and that the mother would no longer be allowed even limited access to the older boy. The decision has triggered strong criticism from the Czech authorities. The children’s mother has said she would explore all avenues of appeal in Norway and if that fails to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights. The Norwegian ambassador expressed the hope that the controversial case would not damage the two countries’ good relations.
Police detain hundreds of teenagers in operation against underage drinking
In the first two weeks of a nation-wide police operation against underage drinking in pubs and restaurants, officers are reported to have detained 236 drunk teenagers under 18. Eight of them were under 15 and one 17-year-old had a 3.25 blood alcohol concentration level, which is close to a lethal dose. The operation in which police are checking out discos, pubs and restaurants to make sure that alcohol is not being sold to minors will last until the end of the year.
Czech PM says UN criticism “unwarranted”
Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has rejected the accusations levelled against the Czech Republic as “unwarranted”, saying that the country had always striven to adhere to international agreements and laws and was taking the same approach in the migrant crisis. The prime minister said that the conditions in detention centers were good and the demands made on migrants were reasonable and UN inspectors were welcome to come and judge the situation for themselves. “We will be happy to show them all our migrant facilities, which we have expanded in the last few months to give migrants more space and better conditions,” Mr. Sobotka said. The prime minister said that in his view Czech migrant facilities had become an issue because a number of Czech organizations had put them in the spotlight.
Czech interior minister dismisses UN criticism
Czech interior Minister Milan Chovanec likewise dismissed the criticism from the UN as unjustified saying that the detentions are legal and that the ministry is continuously working to improve conditions in its centers for migrants. "We are improving conditions for refugees and we do not think that we are breaching any directives or international treaties," the minister told reporters in reaction to the U.N. statement. He said Mr. Hussein was welcome to come to the Czech Republic and assess the situation in person.
Visiting Israeli president meets with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies
Visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday met for talks with the Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, Jan Hamáček. They discussed security in the Middle East, the migrant crisis in Europe and bilateral cooperation. Hamáček said Czech-Israeli relations were on an excellent level and the two countries could collaborate in a number of spheres such as defense. Later in the day the Israeli president and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman paid homage to Holocaust victims at the National Cemetery in Terezin and attended the opening of an Israeli-Czech business forum.
President Zeman standing by his opinions on migrants
In reaction to the news President Zeman's spokesman said Mr. Zeman rejected the criticism and "stood by his opinions". "The president has long warned of the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. He stands by his opinion and he will not change it under pressure from abroad," Zeman's spokesman said.
UN accuses Czech Republic of abusing migrants
The UN Human Rights Commissioner has accused the Czech authorities of "systematic" rights violations in the treatment of refugees and migrants. Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein slammed the Czech Republic for holding migrants in "degrading" conditions for up to 90 days, strip searching them and making them pay for their detention. He likewise criticized the detention of children and said he was alarmed by “the xenophobic public debate” in the country including "Islamophobic" statements made by Czech President Milos Zeman.
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