Current Affairs | All stories

The historic National Museum building at the top of Prague’s Wenceslas Square will close its doors on Thursday for five years of major renovations – the first in the site’s 120-year-long history. When it reopens in June 2016, the museum should offer visitors a whole new experience. On Thursday, hundreds of people used the valuable opportunity to visit the museum for one last time.

Festival Fantazie is one of the Czech Republic’s longest-running conventions dedicated to science fiction, horror films, books, video and board games. Founded in 1996 as Avalcon and since renamed, the con takes place annually in the town of Chotěboř, East Bohemia. This year’s inception got underway roughly a week ago and has a few days remaining for fans to attend everything from promotional events to appearances by special guests.

For the 46th time, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival kicked off in the west Bohemian spa town on Friday, drawing young film enthusiasts and celebrities alike. Among the famous visitors this year are the famous British actress Judi Dench and American actor John Turturro.

The Czech centre-right coalition government has overcome the most serious crisis it has gone through since taking office less than a year ago. On Thursday, coalition leaders struck a deal meeting most of the demands of the junior coalition party, Public Affairs, which has threatened to leave the government. The deal includes two more ministerial seats for Public Affairs, and a pledge to pursue the party’s agenda in taxation and fighting corruption.

Each summer, the south Moravian town of Mikulov hosts Czech and international artists who come for an annual art symposium. Since the event was first held in 1994, they have created more than 260 artefacts, some of which are exhibited at the Mikulov chateau. But now, selected works from the Mikulov collection of contemporary art have also gone on display at the Malostranská beseda gallery in Prague.

The Czech Army is coming home from Kosovo, having ended its mission there this week after twelve years. In that time, more than 8,000 Czech soldiers have come and gone through the on-site KFOR peacekeeping force. Christian Falvey reports on the Czechs’ largest mission in the Balkans as it winds down.

The former head of the Czech football association, František Chvalovský, has been sentenced to ten years in prison after being convicted of credit fraud. Mr Chvalovský was once a major figure in Czech football, but has spent the last 10 years trying – so far unsuccessfully – to defend himself from fraud charges.

Muslim leaders from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia came to Prague on Tuesday to share their experiences and to discuss the challenges faced by their communities. The numbers of the Muslim populations in their countries vary significantly, as do their historic backgrounds. But the debate showed that some challenges are shared by Muslims across the region: islamophobia, media bias, and severe legislative restrictions.

Some of the Czech media labelled it Super Monday – the 4th round at Wimbledon in which three Czech players were vying to make it to the tournament’s quarterfinals. In the end, only one of the three did: not Tomáš Berdych (a finalist at Wimbledon last year and the World No. 7) and not the lesser-known Petra Cetkovská, whose surprise run was ended by German player Sabine Lisicki. Through to the quarterfinal is 21-year-old Petra Kvitová who is showing sensational form, dispatching Belgian opponent Yanina Wickmayer in a mere 45 minutes. The score: 6:0,

An international conference entitled Europe – Whole and Free? concludes in Prague on Tuesday, commemorating the end of the Warsaw Pact. Hosted by the Czech Foreign and Defence Ministries, the conference over two days brought together former officials from both sides of the Cold War to share their views of past events. It also highlighted ongoing divisions between Russia, and the former Soviet satellites in Central and Eastern Europe.