By: Jan Richter
* Czech politicians have rejected the possibility of permanent Russian
military presence at a planned U.S. radar base in the Czech Republic.
* The coalition Green Party has decided to remain in the government but
has rejected siting of a U.S. tracking radar on Czech territory.
* Two Czech aviators have reached the North Pole in the historic Aero
L-200 Morava aircraft.
========================================================================
Politicians reject possibility of permanent Russian troops on Czech
territory
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czech politicians have rejected the possibility of permanent Russian
military presence at the planned U.S. radar base in the Czech Republic.
After meeting with the U.S. President George W. Bush in Sochi on
Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that permanent Russian
military presence at U.S. bases could disperse Russia's concerns. Czech
European Affairs Minister Alexander Vondra noted that the Czech
Republic would only accept an agreement on Russian inspections to the
planned installation; any such agreement will also have to entail
reciprocal Czech inspections to Russia. For his part, Foreign Minister
Karel Schwarzenberg said that the proposal was a "virtual political
game we don't want to get involved in", and the idea of Russian
military personnel permanently stationed in the Czech Republic was also
rejected by Interior Minister Ivan Langer.
========================================================================
Greens remain in government
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The coalition Green Party decided to remain in the government but their
leadership refused possible siting of a U.S. radar base in the Czech
Republic. The Green Party's national conference, held in Prague on
Saturday, acknowledged the conclusions of the NATO summit in Bucharest
according to which the planned American anti-missile defence shield in
Europe was a contribution to the safety of all NATO countries. The
conference however called on Green ministers, senators and MPs to vote
against the Czech-U.S. treaty concerning the establishment of the
American radar base on Czech soil. The national conference also voted
that that the Green Party leader and Environment Minister Martin Bursik
and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg should remain in the
government. Mr Bursik said that the vote proved to be a "total fiasco"
for the opposition within the Green Party.
========================================================================
Czechs aviators reach North Pole
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two Czech aviators reached the North Pole on Saturday in the historic
aircraft Aero L-200 Morava. After taking off from the Longyearbyen
airstrip on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, pilots Petr Bold and
Richard Samus reached the North Pole at 1905 CET; during a two-minute
flyover they crossed all meridians and then landed at the Russian artic
base of Barneo, some 100 km away from the Pole, where they refuelled.
Petr Bold said the conditions were extremely rough with strong winds
and the temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius which forced them to
refuel with the engines running. The L-200 Morava was developed in
Czechoslovakia in the 1950s as an light all-purpose airplane; until the
end of production in 1964, more than 360 aircraft were produced.
========================================================================
President Klaus to visit Egypt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Vaclav Klaus will travel to Egypt on Monday to become the
first Czech head of state to officially visit the North African
country. During the three-day visit, Mr Klaus will meet the Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak as well as the Secretary General of the Arab
League Amr Moussa. Mr Klaus will also open an exhibition in Cairo on 50
years of Czech archaeology research in Egypt, deliver a lecture on the
transition of the Czech Republic at the Czech-Egyptian economic forum,
and will also appear at a launch of a new model of Skoda Fabia.
========================================================================
Roma commemorate victims of holocaust
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Around 20 people gathered on Sunday at the site of the former
concentration camp for Roma in Lety, central Bohemia, to commemorate
the victims of the Roma holocaust. An orthodox service was then held in
the victims' memory. More than 300 Roma died in the Lety camp during
the Second World War while another 500 were transported to Auschwitz.
The Czech Republic has been repeatedly criticized by the EU for failing
to remove a pig farm from the site and to erect a memorial for the
camp's victims.
========================================================================
Social Democrats want to link vote on radar with vote on confidence
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The opposition Social Democrats called on the government on Saturday to
link the vote on the planned U.S. radar base with a vote on confidence.
The Czech Republic and the United States reached agreement at the NATO
summit in Bucharest concerning the siting of a U.S. tracking radar base
in the Czech Republic as part of the American missile defence shield.
The treaty between the two countries is expected to be signed at the
beginning of May in Prague; both chambers of the Czech Parliament will
then vote on the document.
========================================================================
Police seize paintings of runaway businessman
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The police seized nine paintings on Friday belonging to the fugitive
businessman Radovan Krejcir which were to be sold at an auction. If
sold, the nine works by renowned Czech modernist painters Jan Zrzavy
and Vaclav Spala could go at an estimated 80 million crowns, or more
than 5 million U.S. dollars. Fugitive Radovan Krejcir is wanted in the
Czech Republic for a number of crimes including conspiracy to murder,
counterfeiting and extortion. Mr Krejcir ran away in 2005 and is
currently living in South Africa with his family.
========================================================================
Inflation, unemployment down in March
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inflation in the Czech Republic dropped in March to an estimated 7.1 -
7.3 percent compared to 7.5 percent in February. Analysts believe the
drop was caused by slower increase in the price of food as well as
seasonal sales of holiday packages, and expect the inflation to come
down to 5 percent by the end of the year. The unemployment rate in
March also dropped by 0.3 percent to 5.6 percent; this was caused by
the beginning of seasonal work such as agriculture and building
industry.
========================================================================
Czech ice-hockey play-off final underway
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The play-off final of the Czech ice-hockey top division, the O2
extraliga, is underway between Slavia Prague and Energie Karlovy Vary.
The best-of-seven playoff began on Friday in Prague when the visiting
side marked a surprising victory over Slavia 5:4. The second match of
the series on Saturday saw the victory of the Prague-based team 5:2
setting the score of the entire series to 1:1. The seven-game series
will move to Karlovy Vary on Tuesday for another two games.
========================================================================
Weather
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The start of the week will be mostly cloudy and overcast, with rain in
places and highest day temperatures between 6 and 10 degrees centigrade.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mailbox
Mailbox 4.6.2008
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this week's Mailbox we find out the identity of March's mystery man
and announce the four winners who will receive small gifts for their
correct answers. Listeners quoted: Swopan Chakroborty, Helmut Matt,
Jaromir Hauzar, Li Xuewei, Constatnin Liviu Viorel, Pier Carlo Acchino,
Jayanta Chakrabarty, Ian Morrison, Colin Law, Charles Konecny, David
Eldridge.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/102640
Letter from Prague
Prague authorities crack down on vermin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other day Prague saw the beginning of a six-month programme of
"deratizace", meaning rat extermination, and to my ears an amusing
word. The Czech name for somebody who works in the field is
"deratizator", which I guess could be loosely translated as rat
terminator.
