Current Affairs | All stories

Remember all the fuss a few weeks ago when a neo-Nazi group tried to march through the Jewish quarter on the anniversary of Kristallnacht? That march was prevented, but led to much discussion about the size and seriousness of the neo-Nazi threat in the Czech Republic. Now a leading Czech newspaper has claimed that neo-Nazis have managed to infiltrate the Czech Armed Forces, and has the evidence to prove it.

With the holiday season just around the corner, the traditional Prague Christmas market is due to open on Saturday in the historic centre of the Czech capital. Both visitors to Prague and locals can come to see what’s in store this year in Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square and sample some traditional Czech Christmas delicacies.

The Bush administration’s plans to build a radar base in the Czech Republic as part of the U.S. missile defence shield have stirred passions both at home and abroad. One of those who feel strongly about the idea is the Californian artist Kevin Kihn, who contacted Radio Prague with a rather unusual proposal. Instead of a radar facility, he suggested, why not build a Peace Dome in its place? We spoke to Kevin at his home in the town of Alameda, in the San Francisco Bay.

Czechs are only just getting used to the idea of doctor’s fees being introduced as of January, but the health ministry has not stopped there: on Wednesday the health minister, Tomas Julinek, presented the next step: a package of even more far-reaching reforms to significantly change the health sector.

Czechs are never happier than when they’re heading off into the woods with a basket for mushrooms and a pocket knife, and politicians have traditionally shied away from reforming how forests are owned and managed. So an announcement made by Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovic on Friday was surprising: the government, he said, was considering selling off some of the country’s state-owned forests to private companies. I spoke to Vojtech Kotecky of the Friends of the Earth organisation, which is very much against the idea.

People try all sorts of things in order to live longer, and now the Czech Institute of Health Information and Statistics has come up with some new advice. Quite simply - move to Prague. Those living in the Czech capital can expect to live up to five years longer than their peers in other parts of the country.

The Czech Helsinki Committee has launched a pilot project aimed at helping parents to maintain a close bond with their children while serving time in prison. The project should provide a lifeline to the hundreds of young children who through no fault of their own – find themselves in a strange and friendless environment.

Tuesday evening saw Champions League action in the Romanian capital, with football’s Steaua Bucharest hosting Czech club Slavia Prague. The Czech side needed to eke out a win or at least a tie in order to keep its hopes alive – if not for the knockout stages of the Champions League – than at least for the next best thing: a place in the UEFA CUP.

It has taken the Green Party almost two months to come up with a candidate for the post of education minister, and yet, the Greens are deeply divided over the issue. It is not the candidate himself, however, that seems to be causing the controversy but rather the way the Green Party leaders are putting their proposals through. This could prove to be the final straw to the integrity of the smallest coalition party.

Cash-strapped Czech filmmakers have found a new source of income for at least the next three years. Last Thursday, President Klaus signed a so-called digital amendment, which will secure income from advertisements shown on Czech public television. The subsidies will be available until analogue broadcasting is switched off, which is going to happen in October 2010. Altogether they should amount to at least 425 million crowns (24 million US dollars). I spoke to Tomas Baldynsky from the State Fund for Support and Development of Cinematography and