- Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský left for a diplomatic trip to the USA on Monday. He plans to meet with his American counterpart Antony J. Blinken to discuss further aid to Ukraine, energy security, as well as going to NASA headquarters to sign the Artemis Accords, a US initiative for international cooperation in space exploration.
- Around 200 people took part in a so-called “Peace March” on Monday, organised by the ‘Zachraňme náš stát’ (Let’s Save Our Country) protest movement. The participants gathered on Náměstí Republiky and set off at around 2 p.m. for the memorial in Vítkov, where they held a demonstration by the statue of Jan Žižka.
- The Ministry of Health has proposed that donors’ blood be tested more thoroughly for diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C, in order to widen the pool of who is allowed to donate blood. The health ministry says that these tests are standard in Western European countries and would bring Czechia more in line with other EU countries.
- Some 32 people died in traffic accidents in April, which is eight fewer than last year, according to the preliminary data of the traffic police released on Sunday. The overall number of traffic accidents in April dropped by around 1,000 year-on-year to 6,745.
- After two years of losses, Prague airport reported a profit of 283 million CZK last year, and the financial result is almost 2 billion CZK better compared to 2021. The airport handled 10.7 million passengers in 2020, more than double the previous year, and is expected to continue its gradual return to previous occupancy and profits.
51,282 crimes were recorded across Czechia up to April, up considerably on the 46,940 registered in the same period last year.
Crime across the Czech Republic increased by more than 9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, according to the latest police statistics.
By March, a total of 51,282 crimes had been recorded across the country, up considerably on the 46,940 registered in the same period last year. While economic crimes such as fraud and drug-related crimes are down, violent crime including murder rose significantly.
In the first quarter of the year, Czech police recorded 47 murders or attempted murders, 12 more than in the same period last year. Authorities confirmed the majority of incidents, some 28 of the cases, involved domestic relationships.
The rise in reported murders and attempted murders is a concerning trend across Czechia. Last year, 150 cases were recorded in the country, up considerably on the 105 cases registered in 2021. In January, Czech Police President Martin Vondrášek attributed the increase to the noticeably higher social tension brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and the difficult economic climate.
Czech authorities also recorded a far higher number of property crimes in the first quarter of 2023 — such crimes include burglary, theft, and vandalism. A total of 27,261 cases of property crime were recorded by police up to the end of March, 4,089 more than the same period last year.
Moral crimes, however, have decreased by 81 to 946 cases so far this year, while economic crimes also fell by 282 to 3,979 cases.
Despite the rise in crime over the past two years, the total number of recorded cases remains lower than figures registered in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
May 1st, National Holiday and a Tradition
Since ancient times, many cultures have celebrated the coming of spring in various ways. On contemporary calendars, these celebrations have been placed on or near May 1st.
In many countries, May 1st is a national holiday marking International Workers’ Day. The use of the date as Labour Day and to celebrate workers goes back to the late 19th century.
The Czech Angle
May 1st is a national holiday in the Czech Republic and the Czechs have their own ways of marking it.
During the period of Socialism, people in the former Czechoslovakia were forced to participate in massive May Day parades. However, a tradition that goes back to the late 19th century has been kept alive by Czechs from before the Socialist era up to the present: kissing your sweetheart under a blooming tree.
Czechs generally see May 1st as a day of love. In the last week or so of April, trees typically start flowering and legend says that girls who are not kissed under a blooming tree on the day will wither and die within the year.
By tradition, cherry trees are the prefered trees to kiss under. However, other trees in bloom can be substituted if cherry trees aren’t available. For people picky about their kissing trees, birch or apple are seen as the next best thing to cherry. Some people aren’t so particular though and will kiss under any convenient blooming tree.
Along with kissing, many people might also recite the poem “Máj” by Czech romantic poet, Karel Hynek Mácha (1810 – 1836). The poem is a Czech literary classic.
Karel Hynek Mácha (1810 – 1836) was a great Czech Romantic poet and author of the epic poem Máj (May). The poem, written in a remarkably beautiful style, tells about the tragic love of two young people and has become a poetic masterpiece of the Czech Romantic period and Czech literature in general.
Karel Hynek Mácha: Máj (May)
Beginning verses, translation by Edith Pargeter
Byl pozdní večer – první máj –
večerní máj – byl lásky čas.
Hrdliččin zval ku lásce hlas,
kde borový zaváněl háj.
O lásce šeptal tichý mech;
květoucí strom lhal lásky žel,
svou lásku slavík růži pěl,
růžinu jevil vonný vzdech.
Jezero hladké v křovích stinných
zvučelo temně tajný bol,
břeh je objímal kol a kol;
a slunce jasná světů jiných
bloudila blankytnými pásky,
planoucí tam co slzy lásky.
Late evening, on the first of May—
The twilit May—the time of love.
Meltingly called the turtle-dove,
Where rich and sweet pinewoods lay.
Whispered of love the mosses frail,
The flowering tree as sweetly lied,
The rose’s fragrant sigh replied
To love-songs of the nightingale.
In shadowy woods the burnished lake
Darkly complained a secret pain,
By circling shores embraced again;
And heaven’s clear sun leaned down to take
A road astray in azure deeps,
Like burning tears the lover weeps.
The Treaty of Accession regulated the EU’s enlargement to allow 10 eastern and southern European countries to become members of the European Union on 1 May 2004.
The countries joining the European Union on 1 May 2004 were Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia,
This largest round of enlargement in the EU’s history was marked by public celebrations at many border crossings and in the European capitals.
The “eastern enlargement project” had begun a long time before: in the early 1990s, after the end of the Cold War, the EU concluded Association Agreements with many central and eastern European states with the aim of liberalising trade, developing guidelines for political dialogue and harmonising national laws and regulations with EU law.
“We are bringing into the EU family 10 new member states and 75 million new EU citizens,” said on that day European Commission President Romano Prodi.
“Five decades after our great project of European integration began, we are celebrating the fact that Europeans are no longer kept apart by artificial ideological barriers.
“We share the same destiny and we are stronger when we act together. I urge all Europeans to join in celebrations of this astonishing achievement.”
The moves towards accession were supported by a broad-based EU financing programme. The negotiations on accession which were launched with 10 states in 1997 were completed in 2002.
The Treaty of Accession was finally signed in Athens on 16 April 2003.
The EU began with six member states, becoming nine in 1973 with the arrival of the UK, Ireland and Denmark.
Greece followed in 1981, and Portugal and Spain in 1986. Austria, Sweden and Finland made in 15 in 1995.
Czech Republic announces new measures to ban CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoid products from the market.
Although the country announced plans last year to legalize recreational cannabis, it is now planning to ban hemp-derived cannabinoid products that do not produce psychoactive effects.
The Ministry of Agriculture announced on April 25 its intention to set up new measures to remove products containing CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoids from the Czech market, claiming that foodstuffs containing CBD cannot be placed on the market in any EU country due to the lack of scientific studies on their effects on human health.
Agriculture Minister Zdeněk Nekula said in a press statement that food products containing CBB and other cannabinoids derived from hemp cannot be sold unless they are certified as safe by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which provides independent scientific advice on food-related risks. He also admitted that the ban will impact some food business operators.
The Czech Republic is the only EU country to allow a THC limit of 1% in industrial hemp, whereas other member states have set the limit at 0.2%, although the EU has recently announced that it will increase the THC limit to 0.3%.
The Czech Republic’s food market offers a diverse range of CBD products, including those derived from hemp seed or produced synthetically, as well as other hemp-derived cannabinoids.
These products come in various forms, such as oils, tinctures, jellies, confectionery, candies, and capsules.
Despite being a non-intoxicating cannabinoid, the use of CBD in the food market has been challenged by the EU’s legal framework.
On the one hand, the European Commission ruled in December 2020 that CBD is not a narcotic and can be classified as food if it meets relevant provisions in EU food legislation.
The Commission also stated that CBD products should have the same free movement of goods between member states as other legal products.
But on the other hand, the EU considers food products containing CBD as ‘novel foods’ under the Novel Food Regulation, arguing that these products were not consumed significantly in EU countries before May 15, 1997.
Such foods may not be placed on the market unless they have been verified for safety by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and are authorized for marketing in the EU.
However, the EFSA halted in June 2022 the evaluation of European novel food applications for CBD products due to significant data gaps.
As a result, no new CBD products can be approved for sale in the EU until the necessary research is completed.
The EFSA identified several areas that need investigation, including the effects of CBD on the liver, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine system, nervous system, and psychological functions. These studies are crucial to ensure that the consumption of CBD products does not pose a risk to human health.
Czech Republic’s State Agricultural and Food Inspectorate has the authority to restrict or prohibit the sale of products in the market. If a marketing ban is imposed, CBD-containing products cannot be sold again. However, the Ministry has yet to give a schedule for when the ban will take effect.
The Czech Hemp Association criticized the government’s decision, deeming it illogical and unnecessary for companies operating in the sector.
The association said in a press statement that the EU regulation on novel foods is not legally binding but merely a recommendation and that individual EU member states can determine what constitutes a novel food.
Furthermore, the association announced that it is working with the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) to prepare evidence supporting their claim that CBD and other cannabinoids should not be classified as a novel food, given that cannabinoids have been a part of the human diet for centuries.
The Presidents of the Czech Republic and Slovakia – Petr Pavel and Zuzana Čaputová – are in Ukraine.
They witnessed the devastating effects of the Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Czech President Petr Pavel stressed that – as a former military man – he did not expect to see evidence of planned and massive attacks on civilian targets in Europe.
Shocked by the visit to Borodianka Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová wrote on Facebook that “the shameful attack on Ukrainian cities, including Uman and Dnieper, which resulted in the deaths of innocent people, reminds us that we cannot look away”.
Czech media point out that Pavel’s and Čaputová’s visit takes place right after the night Russian rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities, in which at least a dozen people were killed.
In Borodianka, the Czech President said that the sight of the ruined city reminded him of what he had seen as a military man during the war in former Yugoslavia.
“I thought I would never see it again – so close and especially in Europe. The number of attacks on civilian objects shows that they are intentional. A navigation error can happen from time to time, but with this number, it’s not a bug. Clearly, this is the plan. This plan is quite clear – to cause chaos and fear among the civilian population, and thus put pressure on the government to resign,” said Pavel.
He emphasized that the Russians failed to break the Ukrainians and the countries supporting Ukraine.
Both Presidents reached Kyiv by train in the early hours of Friday morning. They are to meet, among others, with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The detailed program of the visit has not been published for security reasons, but the media suggest that both leaders will also talk to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
“Zuzana Čaputová and I share the values of freedom and justice. Ukrainians pay the highest price for this with the blood and lives of their citizens. In the fight against the aggressor, they defend what unites us,” Pavel wrote on Twitter.
Čaputová called the joint visit to Ukraine “a new stage in relations” between Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
“This is our first joint foreign visit and I am glad that we have just arrived in Ukraine. Our message is clear: we are connected with Ukraine not only by borders and a common past but also by a common future,” said Slovakian President.
- The Prague city government website was down on Thursday due to a targeted attack by a Russian hacker group, the Czech News Agency reports. Jiří Károly, director of one of the municipality’s IT departments, said that the attack was due to Czechia’s support for Ukraine.
- The Přáslavic 73rd tank battalion has received two more Leopard 2A4 tanks from Germany, news server Seznam Zprávy reported on Thursday. This is the next instalment of 14 tanks and one recovery vehicle that Germany has promised Czechia as a gift for the military aid it has provided to Ukraine.
- According to Eurostat figures gas prices in Czechia in the second half of 2022 saw the steepest increase in the whole of Europe, rising by a staggering 231 percent year-on-year. Electricity prices rose by 97 percent and were the second highest in the EU.
- The Czech government has placed the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, on its national sanctions list for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kirill’s inclusion on the list means that any assets he has in Czechia will be frozen, he is barred from entering the country and cannot undertake any financial transactions here.
- The Prague metro’s C line will be closed between Hlavní nádraží and Vltavská stations from Sunday, April 30th to Monday, May 1st due to repairs at Florenc station. Passengers can use the XC tram replacement service and Line 36 to reach their destinations.
The Pastrami Pop-Up will take over the corridor at Hall 22 in Holešovice on 4 May from 11am to 9pm.
Visitors’ taste buds will be taken care of by the leaders of the Prague gastro scene, who will offer not only this famous meat sandwich.
All festival delicacies will be washed down with beer from small breweries, a selection of quality wines and cocktails.
The program features also Tea Jay Ivo and DJ Gadjo who will lighten up the atmosphere with live music.
Pastrami is a sandwich prepared from beef, most commonly beef brisket. The meat is marinated for several days in a salt solution and a secret spice blend. It is then smoked, boiled, and thinly sliced.
Traditionally, this meat delicacy is eaten with bread, paired with pickled cucumber and mustard, sometimes with sauerkraut. Pastrami has a long history in Romanian cuisine, with the word pastrami derived from the phrase ‘a păstra’ – to preserve.
Pastrami sandwiches will be provided by:
- BigSmokers
- Meat Vandals
- Take Eat EZ
- Vinograf
- SLOW Cafe
Drinks, wine and beer:
- MOVE Bar
- Vinograf
- Pivo Falkon
Coffee and sweets:
- SLOW Cafe
- GULEFOD Truck
- Holy Flat White
The Czech government on Wednesday approved a defense military treaty with the United States.
The Defense Cooperation Agreement sets a legal framework for possible deployment of U.S. troops on Czech territory and their cooperation with the Czech armed forces.
It should make any such moves easier at a time of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
“It´s undoubtedly a step to boost our country´s security,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.
A date for signing the deal by the Czech and U.S. defense ministers is yet to be set. It will then need parliamentary and presidential approval.
Defense Minister Jana Cernochova called the U.S. “the most important ally in defense. Therefore, to boost trans-Atlantic ties is in the Czech vital interest.”
The U.S. has such agreements with 24 other NATO members, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria that form the eastern flank of the alliance.
Any particular deployment of U.S. forces will still need approval by the Czech government and parliament.
- The Czech Republic’s State Agricultural and Food Inspection is set to ban the sale of products containing cannabidiol (CBD) and other hemp-derived substances due to their “novel food” classification under EU regulations. This means that these products, which include oils, candies, tinctures, and bonbons, were not widely consumed in EU member states before May 1997 and must be confirmed safe by the European Food Safety Authority before sale.
- The government today approved the Czech-US defence cooperation agreement (DCA), PM Petr Fiala (ODS) told journalists after a cabinet meeting. The agreement is intended to facilitate the possible stay of US troops in the Czech Republic. The document must still be approved by both houses of Parliament and signed by the president.
- The Czech Centre in the German capital Berlin officially opened at a new location on Monday. The institution has moved from the city’s Czech Embassy to the Berlin headquarters of the analogous Goethe Institute as the former will soon undergo major renovation work.
- Two shorts from Prague’s FAMU film school will compete in the La Cinef section at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival, which takes place in May. Czechia will be represented in the competition by Electra by Daria Kascheeva and Eighth Day by Petr Pylypčuk.
- Czech police have reported an increase in the number of illegal migrants detained on Czech territory in the first quarter of this year. In the January-to-March period police apprehended 2,658 illegal migrants, an increase of 767 persons, or 40.6 %, compared to the same period last year.
The next Parliamentary Summit of the Crimea Platform will be held in Prague on October 24.
“I am glad that we agreed with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and its chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk that Prague will be the venue for the second meeting of this initiative on October 24,” Speaker of the Chamber of the Deputies of the Czech Republic Markéta Pekarová Adamová said at the Conference of the Speakers of EU Parliaments in Prague.
According to her, the Platform is an important forum that helps spread information about the situation in occupied Crimea.
“It sends a clear signal to the international community that changing borders by force is absolutely unacceptable”, Pekarová Adamová emphasized.
Pekarová also received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise from Ukrainian Supreme Council head Ruslan Stefanchuk for her exceptional personal efforts to strengthen the cooperation between Ukraine and the Czech Republic and support for Ukraine.
The order was awarded to her by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The Crimea Platform summit was held for the first time in Zagreb, Croatia, last year, and was attended by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
Pekarova Adamova called at the time for the establishment of an international tribunal for the crimes of aggression against Ukraine, arguing that the perpetrators must be punished and Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates prosecuted.
Delegations from more than 50 countries and institutions were invited to participate in the event.
The United Kingdom has long been a popular destination for passengers departing from Prague Airport.
A new connection to the East Midlands region will be added in November, said Jiří Vyskoč, Executive Director of Air Business Development at Prague Airport.
Prague Airport will offer flights to Nottingham, Derby, and Leicester twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.
During the winter, UK carrier Jet2.com will also operate a series of pre-Christmas flights from Prague to Edinburgh on Thursdays and Sundays from November 30 to December 17.
Jet2.com currently operates five scheduled services from Prague Václav Havel Airport – Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle. Flights to East Midlands Airport will then operate from 10 November until 20 May 2024.
The East Midlands-Prague line was operational until March 2020, and its reintroduction reflects rising demand in both markets.
“I believe that the direct flight from East Midlands Airport will be appealing not only to British tourists but also to Czech passengers flying to Nottingham, Leicester, or Derby,” Vyskoč added.
“We have seen strong demand for city breaks this winter season,” said Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays.