Week 44/2009 in CzechNews

CzechNews
9. 11. 2009 16:20
The Lisbon Treaty signed, the Berlin Wall fallen and the communist intelligence service files made public
Jiří Komorous back then and now
Jiří Komorous back then and now | Foto: Aktuálně.cz

FIRST FILES ABOUT SPIES PUBLISHED. On the day the city of Berlin and all detractors of communism are celebrating the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall, the Czech Institute for Totalitarian Studies has published a list of communist intelligence service.

It is believed that it is the first such database made officially public regarding the Eastern Bloc intelligence service history.

Among the listed is also Deputy Interior Minister Jiří Komorous. He worked in the police force since 1984 and became a member of the Communist Party when he was 23 years old.
The intelligence service was under direct supervision of the Soviet KGB, says the Institute head Pavel Žáček.

"The service tried to infiltrate into key objects in democratic countries as well as the developing world," says Žáček. They focused on the political exile.

Interior Minister Martin Pecina proposed to promote Komorous to become a general. But President Václav Klaus refused to promote him, giving no official reason.

***

Prague mayor Pavel Bém
Prague mayor Pavel Bém | Foto: Tomáš Adamec, Aktuálně.cz

TO STRIKE OR NOT TO STRIKE? Praguers may wake up one morning and there will be no transport means available to get them to work. Prague transport trade unions have threatened to stage a strike if their conditions are not met.

At a Sunday late evening session with the unions Prague mayor Pavel Bém said the city council would give the transport management 900 million CZK to tackle the financial crisis that has hit the company but the trade union representatives rejected this amount, arguing that it is not enough. They demand at least 2 billion CZK.

Failing to agree on any compromise, the threat of a potential strike later this week is still imminent.

***

CZECH COURT RULES AND PRESIDENT SIGNS. The whole Europe was eagerly anticipating the Czech Constitutional Court ruling on November 3 on the Lisbon Treaty. It came to the conclusion that the reform treaty does not infringe the Czech Constitution.

Czech President Václav Klaus chose a no-ceremony approach to signing the treaty.
Czech President Václav Klaus chose a no-ceremony approach to signing the treaty. | Foto: Ludvík Hradilek

A few hours later at a televised press conference Czech President Václav Klaus announced that he had signed the treaty at 15,00. Noteworthy is the fact that there were no cameras, no media, no ceremony, no celebration.

"The treaty's enforcement will limit the Czech Republic's sovereignty, regardless the Constitutional Court's verdict," Klaus told journalists.

He then found only sharp words for the court judges, marking their behavior as "obstructive" and their verdict as "politically motivated".

***

OUR EURO MAN STILL UNKNOWN. More confusion emerges around the nomination of the Czech Euro commissioner.

While the two major parties (Social Democrats and Civic Democrats) do not agree with the proposal of PM Jan Fischer to nominate Central Bank governor Zdeněk Tůma, Jan Fischer does not agree with the proposal of the two parties to become the EU man in Brussels.

No no, not a Euro job for me. I want to go back to the Statistics Office, says PM Jan Fischer refusing to be nominated for a place in the European Commission..
No no, not a Euro job for me. I want to go back to the Statistics Office, says PM Jan Fischer refusing to be nominated for a place in the European Commission.. | Foto: Reuters

Fischer says he was mandated to lead the country to the next elections and after that he would like to return to his job of statistician.

Meanwhile, Czech president Václav Klaus said on Sunday that he was happy that Jan Fischer is not interested in leaving for Brussels. The president is convinced that Fischer's cabinet should stay in power until the next ballot, said Klaus's spokesperson.

***

REVOLUTION POPULAR AMONG CZECHS. Czech young people are convinced that the Velvet Revolution was a good thing, refusing to believe that communism was better, a poll conducted by CVVM agency on the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism has confirmed.

Almost half of the poll respondents are adamant that the November 1989 Revolution had positive effects on the society. Only 14 percent said life was better before 1989.

***

NAZI SYMBOLS IN CZECH ARMY. Three soldiers serving in the NATO-led troops in Afghanistan were suspended. Two of them adorned their helmets with Nazi symbols, while the third - their supperior - knew about it but did nothing.

"There is no place in the army for people who think this way," said Ddefence Minister Martin Barták who suspended them immediately. Barták also ordered an investigation of the whole case.

***

EPIDEMIC EARLIER THAN EXPECTED. The Czech Republic is facing an inevitable outbreak of seasonal flu epidemic, according to experts.

Influenza infections are common for this time of the year but experts say that a massive epidemic is soon to break out. Normally it comes much later, they say.

"In respect to the current development I expect that it will be a matter of just several weeks, maybe days," immunologist Roman Prymula told Aktuálně.cz.

Boj Špotáková vs. Neriusová na MS v Berlíně
Boj Špotáková vs. Neriusová na MS v Berlíně | Foto: Reuters

Most experts, including Prymula have expected the flu virus to hit the country in January.

***

Javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková won the Czech Athlete of the Year national contest at Saturday night's award ceremony in the Czech capital. It is for the third time in a row. The Olympic champion Špotáková is the holder of the women's world record in the javelin.

Barbora's coach Rudolf Černý was awarded the Trainer of the Year.

This year she came second at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, being the only Czech athlete to win a medal.

 

Právě se děje

Další zprávy