Copyright (c) 2008 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
By: Rosie Johnston
* Ireland's foreign minister, Michael Martin, has criticised the Czech
president over 'inappropriate' comments made during a state visit to
Dublin.
* A German association has started burying the remains of 5,500 German
soldiers and civilians killed during World War II.
* The Chamber of Deputies has approved a law criminalizing the denial
of communist crimes.
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Irish foreign minister calls Czech president's comments during state
visit 'inappropriate'
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Ireland's foreign minister, Michael Martin, has criticised Czech
President Vaclav Klaus over 'inappropriate' comments made at a meeting
with eurosceptics, on the final day of Mr Klaus's state visit to
Ireland. At a meeting with Declan Ganley, the man who led the 'No'
campaign against Ireland ratifying the Lisbon treaty, the Czech
president said that he was afraid that 'freedom and democracy' would
not be enhanced by the treaty's ratification. On Wednesday, Ireland's
foreign minister called Mr Klaus's comments 'very clearly political'
and deemed them an 'inappropriate intervention in the context of such a
state visit'. President Klaus is one of Europe's most high profile
critics of the Lisbon treaty, which is intended to reform how the EU is
run.
The Czech Green Party sharply criticised Mr Klaus on Tuesday, saying
his ultra-conservative views, which he propounds without regard to his
constitutional position, created an unrealistic picture of the Czech
Republic.
The Czech Republic is one of the few EU members not to have ratified
the Lisbon treaty, aimed at reforming how the bloc is run. The Czech
prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, said last week that Parliament would
vote on the matter during the first few months of next year: that is,
during the Czech presidency of the union. However, the document cannot
come into force unless Ireland, whose people rejected it in a
referendum in June, changes its position.
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German WWII soldiers buried in new Cheb cemetary
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A German association started burying the remains of 5,500 German
soldiers and civilians killed during World War II in Cheb on Wednesday.
The remains have all been discovered over the last ten years. A
spokesperson for the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge said that
the first 330 soldiers would be buried on Wednesday. The rest would
follow over the next two or three weeks, he added. The graveyard in
Cheb is still largely unfinished and is expected to be inaugurated in
2010. The Czech Republic was one of the last battlegrounds in World War
II, with Prague the last major city to be liberated. Liberation brought
reprisals against German soldiers and to many of the estimated three
million German-speaking civilians who had lived in the former
Czechoslovakia.
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Lower house votes to criminalize denial of communist crimes
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The Chamber of Deputies has approved a law criminalizing the denial of
communist crimes. Under the new law, those who deny crimes committed by
Nazis and Communists against humanity could face up to three years in
prison. The opposition Communist Party voted overwhelmingly against the
bill, and when it was passed, party leader Vojtech Filip reacted by
saying the approval was one of the worst things to have happened to the
party in Parliament. A similar bill was rejected in 2006, when MPs were
unable to agree on the wording of separate, unrelated passages of the
document. The bill now goes to the Senate for approval.
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Czech government unveils EU presidency logo
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The Czech government unveiled the logo for its upcoming EU presidency
on Wednesday, in the second phase of its pre-presidential information
campaign. The logo reads, in simple block-coloured writing, EU2009.cz -
the internet address for the official website of the Czech presidency.
The logo takes over from the government's first advertising campaign to
publicise the presidency, which courted controversy at home and abroad.
The first advert centred upon a sugar-cube - said to be a Czech
invention - and featured an ambivalent slogan meaning in one reading
'we'll give Europe a taste of its own medicine'.
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Three men arrested following attack of rabbi in Prague
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Three men have been arrested following the assault of an Israeli rabbi
in Prague on Tuesday night. The attack happened in Prague's Jewish
Quarter at around 21:00 on Tuesday. If found guilty, those arrested
could each face up to five years in prison. The three, aged between
21-23, are alleged to have shouted anti-Semitic remarks at the victim
before pelting him with stones and assaulting him. Following the
arrests, a police spokesperson said that two of the detained were also
thought to have been behind another anti-Semitic attack in Prague on
Monday night.
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Culture minister proposes measures to make marriage more binding
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Culture Minister Vaclav Jehlicka has proposed that it should be harder
to get divorced in the Czech Republic. The culture minister suggests
that couples should be able to sign a contract before marriage,
relinquishing their right to divorce. Lawyers have reacted to the
proposal by calling it a step in the wrong direction. Mr Jehlicka has
handed his proposal to the Justice Ministry for further examination,
though a ministry spokesperson said that it is unlikely the suggestion
will be worked into any draft legislation. Mr Jehlicka's party, the
Christian Democrats, have distanced themselves from the proposal.
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Voting on healthcare system reforms postponed
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Voting on a number of reforms to the Czech Republic's healthcare system
has been delayed, after the proposals were sent to an expert committee
for further analysis. Health Minister Tomas Julinek's proposed reforms
will now be decided upon next week, it was agreed. The Civic Democrats'
coalition partners, the Christian Democrats, were unhappy with a clause
in the reforms pertaining to abortion, while the coalition's Greens
were unhappy with proposed changes to the Czech healthcare insurance
system. The group of experts, made up of coalition MPs, now has a week
to remove or alter the more controversial facets of the healthcare
reforms, Mr Julinek said.
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Czech Republic slides down gender equality rankings
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The Czech Republic has dropped down the World Economic Forum's rankings
for gender equality. This year, the Czech Republic was ranked 69th in
the list of 130 countries assessed. In 2007, Czechs ranked 64th. It was
Nordic countries which this year topped the list, with Norway ranking
first in terms of gender equality, Finland coming second, followed by
Sweden and Iceland. A spokesperson from the Czech Women's Lobby said
that she did not see the situation in this country getting worse, but
nor did she see it getting better. Countries were assessed on four
criteria: women in the workplace, education, politics and the health
care system.
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Rosicky undergoes second operation
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The Czech football captain Tomas Rosicky, who has not played since
January due to a ligament injury, has undergone surgery for the second
time. The operation took place in Germany on Monday. A statement on the
website of his club Arsenal said it was a routine operation that had
gone according to plan. After Rosicky underwent surgery for the first
time in May, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he expected to see him
back in action in September. There has been media speculation about
whether the midfielder, who is 28, will ever play top level soccer
again.
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Weather
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It is set to be rainy over the next couple of days, with thick cloud
cover and temperatures ranging between 6-11 degrees Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Current Affairs
Culture minister stokes controversy with lifelong marriage proposal
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The Christian Democrat Culture Minister Vaclav Jehlicka has stoked
controversy by suggesting an amendment to the countries marriage code
that would allow for what appear to be binding religious marriages with
no option of divorce.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/110267
Current Affairs
Substitution treatment for drug addicts to become more widely available
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Substitution treatment for hard drug users in the Czech Republic may
become more widely available in the future. For instance, methadone, a
substitute drug used to break heroin addiction, is so far available
only in 13 specialised centres in the Czech Republic. The National
Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Use now wants to make the
substance accessible to addicts around the country. If it gains
approval from the State Institute for Drug Control, methadone could in
future be prescribed by GPs and available on prescription from
chemists. I asked the director of the drug monitoring centre, Viktor
Mravcik, to explain the reasons behind the proposal.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/110266
Current Affairs
"Finished" Topolanek gathering support ahead of hotly anticipated party
leadership vote
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After a whitewash for the Civic Democrats in regional and Senate
elections, Mirek Topolanek's days as party leader appeared to be
numbered. Now, however, as a leadership vote draws ever nearer, it
seems that every other day another local Civic Democrats organisation
pledges to back the prime minister. So can Mr Topolanek win the
toughest battle of his political career and retain the post of party
chairman?
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/110265
Current Affairs
Chamber of Deputies approves new criminal code
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An historic moment: that is how Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil
described a vote in the lower house on Tuesday approving the country's
new criminal code, which will fully overhaul existing legislation from
1961. Over the last 47 years the existing code was only partially
amended but its replacement will see major changes in how crimes are
assessed.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/110264
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