Politics & Economics

Czech Senate Backs Setting NATO Spending Target of 2% of GDP as Law

The Czech parliament’s upper house approved a bill on Wednesday that will set the state’s minimum defence spending at 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) from next year, matching its commitment to the NATO military alliance. European countries have ramped up their defence expenditure since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which had turned up pressure on member states that had not been meeting spending commitments. Czech defence spending is planned at 1.52% of GDP in 2023 but should rise to above 2% next year once the president signs the bill into law, expected in the coming weeks. Last week Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s centre-right government approved a plan to buy 246 infantry fighting vehicles CV90 for the Czech army for 59.7 billion crowns ($2.81 billion), or an amount equal to 0.7% of GDP forecast for 2024. Prague is also in talks with the United States on the possible purchase of F-35 fighter jets, while the defence ministry plans to buy around 70 Leopard 2A8 tanks from Germany. xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonfutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbetbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean...

by Prague Morning May 31, 2023

Czech Senate Adopts Resolution Supporting Ukraine’s Fast-Track Accession to NATO

The Senate of the Czech Republic has adopted a resolution on supporting Ukraine’s accession to NATO under the fast-track procedure. Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk announced this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. “Yesterday (June 1 – ed.) the Senate of the Czech Republic adopted an important resolution on Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” he wrote. Stefanchuk wrote that the adopted resolution, in particular, notes Ukraine’s demonstration of determination and readiness to defend Euro-Atlantic values. According to him, the document says that Ukraine’s victory in the war with the Russian Federation and Ukraine’s accession to NATO are in the interests of the Czech Republic’s security. The Verkhovna Rada chairman also noted that the resolution emphasizes that the Czech Republic supports the training of the Ukrainian military, the provision of weapons and other military equipment to Ukraine in coordination with its allies. In addition, Stefanchuk added that the Senate of the Czech Republic emphasizes in the resolution that the NATO summit in Vilnius should confirm a strong political commitment to Ukraine, because Ukraine’s accession to NATO will significantly strengthen the military potential of the Alliance and preserve the international order based on UN rules and regulations. The...

by Prague Morning May 31, 2023

Czechs Want to Stay in the EU, New Poll Shows

If the Czech Republic held a referendum on leaving the EU today, 63% of Czechs would vote to remain, a fresh survey conducted in one of the EU’s most eurosceptic countries found. The survey was conducted by the Europeum Institute and analytical agency STEM even though no such referendum is currently on the political agenda. Indeed, Czechs are generally optimistic about the EU, with 56% of respondents expressing this opinion. Still, they remain sceptical about introducing the common euro currency, as less than one in five said they favoured adoption, the Czech News Agency reported. Besides examining Czechs’ attitudes towards the EU, the survey also found that most Czechs still support welcoming Ukrainian refugees. According to Interior Ministry figures, there are currently some 325,000 in the country. Still, Jaromír Mazák, director of the STEM research agency, believes that while support for accepting Ukrainian refugees has been stable over time, it is quite fragile. “More than half of the public is concerned about the negative impact of migration from Ukraine on the quality of public services and the economy as a whole,” said Mazák, as quoted by the Czech News Agency. The survey found that 44% of Czechs are willing to help even at...

by Prague Morning May 24, 2023

Czech Government Cancel Soviet-Era Decrees Giving Russian Embassy Free Land

The Czech government on Wednesday cancelled Soviet-era decrees that granted the Russian embassy free use of land in Prague and other cities, a further step in a more than two-year diplomatic spat with Moscow worsened by the war in Ukraine. Prague had in 2021 accused Russian intelligence agents of being behind explosions at an arms depot in the Czech Republic in 2014, leading it to drastically reduce staff at the Russian embassy, then one of central Europe’s biggest missions and which continues to operate at a greatly reduced capacity. On Wednesday, the centre-right government rescinded orders granting Russia the use of dozens of plots of lands in the 1970s and 1980s by the country’s then Communist rulers. The Russian embassy in Prague did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Russia will now have to pay leases to use of the land, the foreign ministry said. “We overturned government decisions taken under the barrels of Russian tanks after the occupation of our country,” European Affairs Minister Martin Dvorak said on Twitter, referring the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion that tightened Communist rule in the country. “Unauthorised profits from the use of these land plots cannot be allowed to support the...

by Prague Morning May 17, 2023

Czech President Gives Ukraine’s Offensive High Chance of Success

Ukraine’s planned counteroffensive to win back territory occupied by Russia has a good chance of success but may bring high casualties if Russia uses its prepared defences well, Czech President and former NATO general Petr Pavel said on Friday. Pavel, 61, said in an interview that Ukraine needs support for NATO and European Union entry but joining either will be a lengthy process, though talks on the EU accession could start this year. Pavel, who was Czech army chief and also the principal military adviser to the NATO secretary-general in 2015-2018, said Ukraine would eventually get Western fighter jets it has been calling for but it was impossible to deliver them in time for the upcoming offensive, and there were higher priorities such as ammunition. “There is certainly high hope that the Ukrainian counteroffensive will be successful, because Ukraine is motivated, well prepared, its troops are experienced and certainly do not succumb to such deficiencies as the Russian army,” Pavel said at Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech presidency. The Russian army had severe problems in logistics and morale, but a collapse of defences should not be expected, he said. “Russia has had time to prepare a relatively high-quality...

by Prague Morning May 14, 2023

Czech Inflation at Its Lowest Since March 2022

Czech inflation slowed further in April to a headline rate of 12.7%, its lowest since March 2022, data showed on Thursday, possibly taking pressure off a central bank that has been weighing another interest rate hike. On a month-on-month basis, overall consumer prices fell 0.2%. The figures come after the Czech National Bank last week nearly renewed an interest rate hiking cycle that has been on hold since the middle of 2022. It voted 4-3 for stability, while those backing tighter policy had concerns over wage developments and loose fiscal policy. With the state budget deficit rising at a record pace so far in 2023, the government is set to detail a budget consolidation plan to cut the 2024 deficit by around 70 billion crowns ($3.30 billion) later on Thursday. Markets are pricing in little chance the central bank will raise interest rates again, after its 2021-22 tightening cycle lifted the base rate by 675 basis points to 7.00%. Analysts said April inflation data backed a view of no more rate hikes. “Inflation could fall even faster as cost conditions are improving,” Banka Creditas economist Petr Dufek said, citing easing gas prices and weakened demand as examples. Food prices rose...

by Prague Morning May 11, 2023

Czech Jobless Rate Falls to 3.6% as Expected

The Czech Republic’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in April, in line with expectations, figures from the labor office showed Wednesday. The unemployment rate was 3.6 percent in April, down from 3.7 percent in March. In the same month last year, the jobless rate was 3.3 percent. There were 261,700 unemployed people in April, compared to 273,500 a month ago. The labor office reported that by the end of April, job offices had registered a total of 284,530 vacancies. According to the latest Eurostat data, the Czech Republic still has the lowest unemployment rate in the entire European Union. Youth unemployment In March 2023, 2.763 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.264 million were in the euro area. In March 2023, the youth unemployment rate was 14.3% both in the EU and in the euro area, down from respectively 14.5% and 14.4% in the previous month. Compared with February 2023, youth unemployment decreased by 33 thousand in the EU and by 14 thousand in the euro area. Compared with March 2022, youth unemployment increased by 105 thousand in the EU and by 91 thousand in the euro area. Unemployment by sex In March 2023, the unemployment rate...

by Prague Morning May 10, 2023

Czech President Supports Creation of War Crimes Tribunal for Russia

Czech President Petr Pavel has said he supports the creation of an international war crimes tribunal to hold Russia accountable for its atrocities in Ukraine, he said in a video address posted on Twitter on May 9. “It is important to investigate these crimes, which is why I unequivocally support the creation of the tribunal,” Pavel said. “It is a key step on the road to both peace and justice,” he went on to say. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at an online summit of the Core Group international coalition of May 9 dedicated to the issue of establishing a special tribunal to investigate numerous Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine. All 37 participants of the summit “confirmed their resolve to hold Russia’s top leadership accountable for the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote later on Twitter. The European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have also voted to support the creation of a special international tribunal. On Monday, May 8, Mr. Pavel and other leading state representatives honoured the victims of the Second World War at Prague’s Vítkov memorial on the occasion of the anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. In his speech, the president compared the conflict to...

by Prague Morning May 10, 2023

Why is Sugar in Czechia the Most Expensive in the EU?

In March of this year, the price of sugar in the Czech Republic rose by 98% compared to 2022, making it the most expensive in the European Union. Monthly data shows that this increase has been steady since August 2021, with inflation rates for February and March 2023 reaching 61%. This means that the average sugar prices in these two months were 61% higher than during the same months of the previous year. Czechia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, and Latvia observed the highest annual inflation rates for sugar, with an increase of 98%, 97%, 82%, 72%, and 70% respectively, while substantial, though lesser, increases were also recorded in Luxembourg (19%), Belgium (35%), Bulgaria (36%), and Ireland (37%). Hungary had the smallest increase in sugar prices by 17%. The rise in sugar prices is partly due to gas prices demanded by sugar mills during their production process. According to Eurostat, the gas price in the Czech Republic was the highest in the EU during the latter half of the previous year, increasing by 231% YoY, while it was only by about 30% in Hungary. A limitation on sugar prices imposed by the Hungarian government as part of its anti-inflation strategy earlier last...

by Prague Morning May 10, 2023

Czech Economy Probably Out of Recession, Preliminary Data Show

The Czech economy probably pulled out of recession in the first quarter with slight growth driven by trade, preliminary data indicated, although high inflation continued to bite. Gross domestic product in the Czech Republic increased by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, defying a Reuters poll forecast for a 0.1% drop. GDP shrank by a less-than-expected 0.2% year-on-year, the data showed. The Czech Republic is the first economy in central Europe to report first-quarter GDP data, but all have felt the strain of high inflation, driven by steep energy price rises last year. At the end of 2022, the Czech and Hungarian economies slipped into technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of declining quarter-on-quarter GDP. “So it is confirmed, the recession really ended (last quarter),” Komercni Banka economist Jan Vejmelek said in a Twitter post after the data. The Czech statistics office did not give details of the preliminary data but said external demand buoyed the economy while household consumption decreased. Updated data is due on May 30. Inflation has surged to double-digit rates across central Europe but looks to have passed a peak. Interest rates remain elevated and central banks are not in a hurry to ease policy until price growth is...

by Prague Morning May 02, 2023

Czech FM: Ukraine EU Accession Talks Could Start This Year

Ukraine’s EU accession could begin soon if all EU member states can be persuaded, said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky after President Petr Pavel vowed to push for accession talks to be opened by the end of this year. Pavel previously said he would be pushing for this in line with the position of Czech diplomacy, which Kyiv also seeks. “I can imagine it, but there must be consensus in the entire EU-27,” Lipavsky said. However, many EU member states are sceptical, and Czechia is trying to allay their fears. Ukraine would have to meet all the conditions and “cannot enjoy any reliefs” in this respect, Lipavsky said. Ukraine was granted candidate status for EU membership in 2022. It received seven recommendations from Brussels last year that it should follow to move closer to membership in the bloc. European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen said in January this year that Ukraine had made good progress in implementing those recommendations related to domestic politics and the judiciary, such as the fight against corruption and the procedure for approving judges of the Ukrainian Constitutional Court. Czechia, in cooperation with other allies, will seek ways to increase the supply of ammunition to Ukraine, Czech...

by Prague Morning May 02, 2023

May 1, 2004: The Czech Republic Joins the European Union

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...

by Prague Morning May 01, 2023

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