Politics & Economics

Czech, Slovakian Presidents Pay Joint Visit to Ukraine

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...

by Prague Morning Apr 28, 2023

Crimea Platform Parliamentary Summit to Be Held in Prague in October

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...

by Prague Morning Apr 26, 2023

Czech Lawmakers Pass Law Requiring 2% of GDP Spending on Defense

The lower house of the Czech parliament approved legislation on Friday requiring state budgets to devote spending worth at least 2% of gross domestic product to defense starting next year. European countries have accelerated their defense spending in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as many capitals have not yet met NATO’s 2%-of-GDP financing commitment. In the 2023 budget, defense spending is planned at 1.52% of GDP. The bill estimates that an extra 21.5 billion crowns (almost $1 billion) over the government’s mid-term fiscal outlook would be needed in the 2024 central state budget for the defense spending to reach the required level. The Czech Republic, a NATO member since 1999, has sought to build up and modernize its armed forces after years of underspending, and after supplying hundreds of pieces of heavy military equipment to Ukraine over the past year. The country signed in December a non-binding memorandum with Sweden for the delivery of more than 200 CV90 infantry fighting vehicles. It has also been in negotiations with the United States to buy 24 F-35 jets. However, the additional spending may complicate the center-right government’s efforts to cut the budget deficit by 70 billion crowns in 2024 from...

by Prague Morning Apr 25, 2023

Czech, Polish, Slovak PMs Call on World to Stand by Ukraine

The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have called for the world to “stand by Ukraine without qualification or reservation” in an article for Foreign Affairs magazine. Mateusz Morawicki, Petr Fiala and Eduard Heger wrote in the bimonthly that if Ukraine loses its war against Russia, the rest of Central Europe could be next. To prevent this, they said, Ukraine must be supported until Russian forces “withdraw from its territory entirely, putting a definitive end to the Kremlin’s revanchism and imperialism.” Anything less, they asserted, would be “like issuing an open invitation to all authoritarian lunatics who think that it is OK to invade their neighbors.” The three heads of government argued that a frozen conflict would not be a viable option as this is Moscow’s preferred modus operandi for buying time so it can “regroup and rebuild its forces while continuing to wage political warfare and export its imperial ideology,” something they said the Kremlin had been doing for years. The prime ministers wrote that their countries have hundreds of years of experience of Russia’s “revanchism, totalitarianism, occupation, deportations and massacres,” which is why they had been sounding the alarm well in advance of Moscow’s February...

by Prague Morning Apr 25, 2023

Czech Producer Price Inflation Eases To 10.2%, Lowest In 18 Months

The Czech Republic’s industrial producer prices increased at the slowest pace in one-and-half years in March, figures from the Czech Statistical Office showed on Wednesday. The industrial producer price index climbed 10.2 percent year-on-year in March, much slower than the 16.0 percent surge in February. Economists had expected inflation to moderate to 11.3 percent. Further, this was the weakest rate of increase since September 2021, when prices had grown 9.2 percent. However, inflation has remained in double digits since October 2021. The annual price growth in the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning segments slowed to 21.4 percent in March from 28.5 percent in the prior month. Among the main industrial groupings, prices for non-durable consumer goods grew the most by 29.4 percent and those for energy goods by 12.3 percent. Excluding energy, industrial producer price inflation eased to 9.5 percent in March from 12.4 percent in February. On a monthly basis, producer prices dropped 1.0 percent in March. Economists had expected prices to fall slightly by 0.1 percent. 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...

by Prague Morning Apr 20, 2023

NATO Has ‘No Alternative’ but to Support Ukraine, Says Czech President

NATO countries have no choice other than supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia since not doing so would mean victory for Moscow, the Czech Republic’s president said on Wednesday. There is “no alternative to supporting Ukraine because the alternative to it is the success of Russia,” Petr Pavel said at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. After talks at the alliance headquarters in Brussels the two discussed Prague’s contribution to NATO and the security challenges involved in the war in Ukraine, along with China’s more assertive foreign policy. Paval said his country would meet NATO’s defense spending target of 2% of gross national product next year and revealed that they were ready for “discussions on spending more if necessary if linked to capabilities.” NATO leaders are expected to adopt a more ambitious defense investment target at their upcoming July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Pavel acknowledged that public opinion in NATO countries had started to tire of the news on the Russia-Ukraine war, but noted that it was the duty of politicians to maintain support for Kyiv. For his part, Stoltenberg said “the will in Europe to continue supporting Ukraine is enormous,” adding that it was...

by Prague Morning Apr 20, 2023

Czech People Rate Current Government as Worst in Decade

The Czech government of conservative leader Petr Fiala (ODS, ECR) has received the worst rating from the Czech population since 2013, according to a survey conducted by the Centre for Public Opinion Research of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CVVM). The majority of Czech citizens are dissatisfied with the programme, activities, the composition of the government, and how the government communicates with the public. For example, only 24% of the survey participants are satisfied with the composition of the government. Also, 69% of Czechs are dissatisfied with the government’s performance and the cabinet’s communication with the public is assessed negatively by 66%. The current Czech government is composed of five parties – conservative Civic Democrats (ODS, ECR), Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL, EPP), conservative and pro-European TOP 09 (EPP), Mayors and Independents (STAN, EPP) and Czech Pirate Party (Pirates, Greens/EFA). This government which promised to “bring the country back to West” during its election campaign, earned a worse rating than the previous populist and euro-sceptic government of Andrej Babiš (ANO, Renew). Babiš’s party ANO is currently in opposition, preparing for European elections in May 2024. According to another opinion poll – Kantar – the ANO party remains the strongest party in Czechia...

by Prague Morning Apr 19, 2023

Czech Koruna Reaches Its Strongest Point Against Euro in 15 Years

The Czech currency is now the strongest against the euro in over 15 years and the best versus the dollar in more than a year. On Wednesday, it gained 15 haléř against the euro, reaching 23.34 CZK / EUR, the lowest rate since the end of July 2008. The crown gained 27 haléř against the dollar, reaching 21.26 CZK / USD. It last traded higher versus the US dollar in February of last year. This is based on data from the Patria Online server. Since last autumn, when the rate to the euro was about 24.70 CZK / EUR and the rate to the dollar was much higher, the crown has been progressively rising against both major international currencies. The Czech crown achieved its highest level versus the euro since the summer of 2008 in February of this year. The Czech currency suffered a short-term decline versus the euro and the dollar in the first part of March this year, but it has since recovered. The Czech Labour Office published unemployment data today, according to which the share of people without jobs in the Czech Republic fell by two tenths of a percentage point to 3.7% in March compared to...

by Prague Morning Apr 13, 2023

Czech Republic to Send Additional Military Aid to Ukraine

The Czech Republic plans to provide Ukraine with new military aid in the amount of almost $35 million. “The aid that we are planning together with the Chief of the General Staff, Karel Řehka, amounts to 600 to 700 million Czech crowns,” Jana Černochová said. These are military materials that are still in Czech depots and are not needed by the Czech army. “The army can really send them to Ukraine without harming its own defense capabilities,” Černochová noted. This statement was made by the head of the Czech defense department following her meeting with President Petr Pavel. It is reported that she handed him the list of aid that the Czech Republic has already sent to Ukraine. Černochová emphasized that, together with the Chief of the General Staff, they always ensure that the material sent to Ukraine can be replaced with something. The House of Commons of the Czech Republic also supported sending up to 15 employees of the Military Law and Order Service to Ukraine to assist in the investigation of war crimes in Ukraine. Czech military police officers will provide support to the International Criminal Court team investigating crimes in Ukraine. They will work mainly in Ukraine and possibly...

by Prague Morning Apr 06, 2023

Prague Hosted Successful Caspian Energy Investment Forum 2023

On March 22, 2023, the first Caspian Energy Investment Forum, organized by the Caspian Energy Club and under the sponsorship and assistance of Financial Chain Corporation s.r.o. in Czech Republic, was held at the Hilton Prague. The event was attended by around 150 delegates from various industries and sectors. This forum, which received official support from the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the Czech Republic, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Azerbaijan, the Embassy of Turkey in the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Energy in Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Czech Republic, CzechTrade, CzechInvest, AzPromo, and KOBIA, was aimed at promoting investment opportunities in Europe and the Middle East. The forum was seen as a success, with delegates exchanging business ideas and exploring new investment opportunities. Furthermore, the event was highlighted by the participation of high-level government officials from participating countries, who shared their insights on how to further strengthen economic collaboration and investment in the region. The purpose of the forum was to let the participants from Turkic countries and Czechia study possibilities for companies and organizations intending to invest and run businesses in Czechia, as well as evaluate investment opportunities for companies from Czechia in...

by Prague Morning Apr 06, 2023

Czech Republic Replaces Russian Nuclear Fuel Imports with US Imports

The US company Westinghouse will supply both Czech nuclear plants with fuel, so the country can quit importing Russian nuclear fuel until the end of 2023. The Czech nuclear plant in Dukovany has used fuel from the Russian company TVEL, which is part of the Russian state holding Rosatom since the plant began operation almost 40 years ago. However, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Czech energy company ČEZ which operates the nuclear plant decided to replace the supplier for safety reasons. “Securing a Western supplier of fuel assemblies for Dukovany is a significant step not only for the Czech power industry but also for the entire Czech Republic. It is another significant strengthening of energy security,” said Daniel Beneš, the CEO of ČEZ Group. Czechia is not the only nuclear country that wants to replace Russian nuclear fuels, which are not subject to EU sanctions. Meanwhile, Slovakia’s largest electricity producer, Slovenské elektrárne (SE), is also selecting a new supplier of nuclear fuel. “We clearly need to have enough fuel from safe sources, which is why we are trying to move away from the Russian source as quickly as possible,” Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said after his meeting...

by Prague Morning Apr 04, 2023

Household Energy Tariffs Dropping in Czech Republic

Tariffs for electricity and gas for consumers in the Czech Republic, which grew sharply since early 2022, have begun to significantly decrease. The Czech E.ON company has revised electricity and gas tariffs for households since March 31. The tariffs on gas dropped most significantly, which will allow consumers who switch to them to save tens of thousands of crowns (many hundreds of dollars) per year. The cost of kWh for electricity in E.ON is 6.63 crown, including taxes. Competing companies offer households tariffs per kWh well above seven crowns. E.ON’s gas fell to less than two crowns (less than nine cents) per kWh. Thus, households will save an average of 1,800 crowns to 5,000 crowns per year on electricity, depending on whether they live in small apartments or cottages. The new gas tariffs will allow them to save much more annually. In the Czech Republic, E.ON offers the most attractive household energy tariffs among other energy companies operating in the country. “This (decrease of energy tariffs) is yet another proof of how well the recovery in the gas market is going,” an energy expert Jiri Gavor said. Meanwhile, according to him, the market price of gas isn’t expected to fall...

by Prague Morning Apr 02, 2023

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