Current Affairs | All stories

The Czech Republic and the Principality of Liechtenstein established diplomatic relations on Tuesday, marking an important step forward in a decades-old property dispute. The two countries have had no official ties since World War II, when Czechoslovakia seized land and castles belonging to the aristocratic House of Liechtenstein.

Originally the concept of one Czech man, Ivan Mečl, Divus has grown into something of a mini art empire. The organization has offices in Prague, London and Berlin, and a magazine called Umělec published in Czech, Spanish, English and Chinese. I paid a visit to two of the organisation’s offices:

On Monday, the Ministry of the Interior released its report on migration for the year 2008, which showed that there are currently 438,000 foreigners residing legally in the Czech Republic. That number is over 10 percent higher than for the previous year – and nearly twice as many as six years ago. To get an idea of some of the issues that these latest immigration figures raise, I spoke with Eva Dohnalová, head of the nongovernmental organisation Berkat, which provides social services for immigrants. I began by asking her if there was any thing new

As Radio Prague reported earlier this year plans are well underway to restore a statue of U.S. president Woodrow Wilson in front of Prague’s main station that was torn down by the Nazis in 1941. On Monday, however, an important milestone in that project – the raising of a polystyrene model on a crane – didn’t go quite to plan, as rival sculptors ended up throwing punches.

The Google Books Library is a huge project under which the internet giant aims to scan millions of books and make them available on-line. In the US a court is considering a deal struck between Google and publishers that would cover all books covered by copyright in the US, a deal which would see copyright holders receive nearly two thirds of the price of books printed to order from Google Books. Now the issue has come before the European Commission in Brussels, with many in Europe wary of Google’s plans. Among them is the Association of Czech Booksellers

This week, heads of Czech Centres from around the world are gathered in Prague to discuss where next for their cultural institutes. Amongst them is Ladislav Pflimpfl, head of the Czech Centre in London. Just before he hopped on a plane to Prague this weekend, I stopped by his London office to ask him what Czech events he had organised this autumn in the British capital:

Some Czech politicians have warned that due to the postponement of general elections, the Czech Republic might lose its seat on the European Commission. If a candidate is picked by the current caretaker government, they would have a weak mandate, according to the main Czech parties. But Sweden, which now heads the EU, says the current Commission should stay in place – until the future of the Lisbon treaty is clear.

The Golden Barb is the name of an award that the Prague-based NGO Centre for Integration of Foreigners hands out for the worst contribution to the field of integration of foreigners. It also gives out the Naděžda prize for the best practice or policy in the field. This year’s awards were presented on Thursday evening. Jan Richter spoke to the centre’s Vladislav Gunther after the ceremony.

Around 20 of the 669 mostly Jewish children saved from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia by Nicholas Winton recreated their 1939 journey by steam train across Europe this week, arriving at Liverpool St on Friday morning. Sir Nicholas – now 100 years old - was there to welcome them. Also there on the platform was Štefan Füle, minister for European Affairs and a former Czech ambassador, and it was there at Liverpool St that he spoke to Radio Prague’s Rosie Johnston.

The Year 1989 through the Eyes of Photographers is the title of a new exhibition that has just got underway at Prague’s Old Town Hall. It brings together around 300 photographs capturing events preceding the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia, and the drama of the Velvet Revolution itself. Daniela Mrázková of Czech Press Photo is the exhibition’s curator.