Current Affairs | All stories

The European Union and China came together in Prague on Wednesday in an attempt to launch a new phase in mutual relations. Although no major deals were sealed in the Czech capital, the summit set the stage for cooperation in addressing the global economic crisis, trade and climate change.

Public service broadcaster Czech Television has sparked a major row by broadcasting a pre-election spot for the extremist Národní strana, or National Party. The clip provided a platform for the far-right group to express its hatred of the country’s large Roma minority. This included the shocking promise of “a final solution to the gypsy problem.” In the uproar that followed the broadcaster eventually gave way and said it will not screen the spot again, though its judgement has been called into question.

The British scandal over MPs imaginative expense payments has focused attention on how Czech lawmakers are compensated and their accounts controlled. The comparison shows many similarities between the two systems with similar abuse difficult to rule out.

European ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros is in Prague this Wednesday as part of a campaign to raise awareness about what he can do to protect European residents’ rights. Mr Diamandouros receives around 3,500 complaints a year, mainly regarding discrimination or maladministration in EU institutions. But what is his job exactly, and how can he help Czechs? I met Nikiforos Diamandouros to find out:

On Tuesday, the Czech Charter 77 Foundation awarded two young Czechs, Jakub Štěrbík and Stanislav Vodička, this year’s František Kriegel Award for outstanding personal courage. A year ago the two stood up to skinheads shouting hate slogans and giving the Hitler salute. For his efforts, Mr Štěrbík was stabbed in the neck; his friend Stanislav Vodička came to his aid and was also knifed.

Slavia Prague have won the Czech football league for the second time in a row, after beating Viktoria Žižkov on Monday evening. For decades they have had been accused of being věčně druhý (forever second), overshadowed by the country’s richest club, Sparta Prague. So do Slavia’s two titles in two seasons represent a real power shift in Czech football?

The country’s new prime minister, Jan Fischer, has revealed that his government is now close to releasing its official policy statement, with the government due to hammer out final details this week. Regardless, two major focuses of the new government are already obvious: preparing a tight state budget for 2010, and successfully completing the Czech EU presidency.

2008 was a good year for Czech javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková. In the course of one season, the 27-year-old took Olympic gold in a nail-biting final in Beijing, smashed the women’s javelin world record and was voted Czech Athlete of the Year for the second time running. On Tuesday, Barbora Špotáková, who is also the World champion in the women’s javelin, released a book telling her story so far. After the launch, I asked her which of the many successes she had enjoyed last year meant the most to her:

Sir Nicholas Winton – the British man who helped save 669 Czechoslovak Jewish children from the Nazis in 1939 – will receive a telegram from the Queen on Tuesday to mark his 100th birthday. As well as the traditional reunion with those “Winton children” who settled in Britain after the war, there were a number of events in the Czech Republic to mark his centenary.

Some 23,000 union members from several countries descended on Prague on Saturday to protest against steps taken by the former Czech government to tackle the economic crisis. Parallel events took place in Madrid, Brussels and Berlin. The unions have warned that more protests will follow, if governments, including the Czech Republic’s, fail to listen.