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Nečas: Veto threat secured higher EU funding for Czech Republic

The Czech prime minister, Petr Nečas, says the Czech Republic’s threat to veto a proposed European Union budget helped secure more funding for the country. Mr. Nečas made the comment in Brussels on Friday shortly after a summit of EU leaders hammered out an agreement on a budget for the 2014–2020 period. Under the deal, the Czech Republic will be able to draw up to EUR 20.5 billion as part of the bloc’s cohesion policy. That figure is down from the EUR 26.7 billion available to the country under the current long-term budget, with the fall reflecting both austerity efforts and the Czech Republic’s relative growth in wealth. Mr. Nečas said the figure proposed prior to the summit was unacceptably low and that the country’s veto threat had been “significant” in winning increased funding, adding that the sum for the Czech Republic per capita would still be fourth highest in the EU.

Social Democrats: reduction in EU funding defeat for Nečas and country

The opposition Social Democrats criticized Prime Minister Nečas’s performance at the EU summit. The party’s leader, Bohuslav Sobotka, said at a news conference on Saturday that because the Czech Republic was going to receive less EU funding under the next budget it meant Mr. Nečas – and the country – had been defeated in Brussels. The Social Democrarts’ deputy chairman, Lubomír Zaorálek, said the outcome reflected the approach of the Czech Republic’s diplomats and the country’s foreign policy.

News site: pressure on Nečas growing within Civic Democrats

Pressure on Prime Minister Nečas is growing within his party, the Civic Democrats, Novinky.cz reported on Saturday. The news website said some members were giving their chairman until a party congress in the autumn to turn around its fortunes or face possible replacement ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for next year. The dominant right-wing force in Czech politics in the last two decades, the Civic Democrats currently lead an unpopular coalition government after garnering 20 percent in the last general elections. A poll this week suggested they would receive 15.6 percent in a vote held now, just ahead of their rivals on the right (and coalition partners) TOP 09 on 14.5 percent. Some mayoral candidates have recently said that they will not run for election under the Civic Democrats’ banner as it would harm their chances.

Zeman meets defeated rival for president Schwarzenberg

The Czech president-elect, Miloš Zelman, has held talks with the foreign minister and TOP 09 chairman, Karel Schwarzenberg, who he defeated in an election two weeks ago to succeed Václav Klaus as head of state. Mr. Schwarzenberg said after Friday’s meeting that the two had discussed issues surrounding Czech foreign policy, including the question of who will become the country’s ambassador to Moscow; there has been speculation that the post will be filled by Vladimír Remek, the only ever Czechoslovak cosmonaut and a Communist Party MEP. Minister Schwarzenberg said he and the new president were likely to disagree over Kosovo. Mr. Zeman, a former Social Democrat prime minister, will be inaugurated in a ceremony at Prague Castle on March 8. He has been holding talks with party leaders in the last week.

Filmmaker: Grebeníček’s depiction of Palach as Communist represents abuse of latter’s legacy

The maker of a miniseries on the 1969 death of Jan Palach and its aftermath has hit back at statements made about him by a former head of the Communist Party. Polish director Agnieska Holland told the new website iDnes.cz that making Palach out to be a Communist represented an abuse of his legacy. On Friday, hard-line Communist Miroslav Grebeníček said Palach had acted out of sympathy for the reform Communists defeated by the Soviet-led invasion of August 1968, adding that claiming he had become a symbol of the struggle against totalitarian Communism was completely misleading. He made the comments during a debate prior to a vote that made January 16, the anniversary of Palach’s self-immolation, a day honouring his memory. Ms. Holland – whose three-part Burning Bush is currently being screened – said the student’s actual aim had been to spark resistance to Communist rule. The Oscar-nominated director, who is 64, studied at Prague’s FAMU film school and was herself involved in anti-regime activities around the time of Palach’s death.

Film on notorious Communist-era state prosecutor Vaš set for release

A documentary drama on a notorious Communist-era state prosecutor and judge is set for general release in the Czech Republic next week. Murderer by Profession: The Suffering of Karel Vaš features a rare interview with Vaš, who was a key player in some of Czechoslovakia’s notorious show trials of the early Communist period and died last year at the age of 96. Among his best-known victims was war hero General Helidor Píka, whose intercession with the Soviet authorities to have Czechoslovak soldiers freed during WWII may well have saved the life of Vaš, who was being held in a Gulag camp. The film is largely the work of historian Pavel Paleček, who wrote, co-directed and produced it. Its makers say they plan to screen the film at schools and to have it shown at festivals.

Czech women lead Australia 2:0 in Fed Cup in Ostrava

The Czech women’s tennis team are leading Australia 2:0 on matches in the best-of-five quarter-finals of the Fed Cup in Ostrava. Following Petra Kvitova’s 7-6 6-3 defeat of Jarmila Gajdošová on Saturday, Lucie Šafářové beat Samantha Stosur 7-6 7-6 to leave the Czechs just one win away from their fifth Fed Cup semi-finals in a row. The Czech women won the Fed Cup in Prague last year just weeks before the Czech men’s team triumphed in the Davis Cup, making it the first time that the country held both trophies.

Weather

Forecasters say we can expect cloudy weather with some sunny spells in the next couple of days. Temperatures should reach a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius.