Current Affairs | All stories

The student protests that formed a key component of the 1989 Velvet Revolution serve as a stark reminder, even more than twenty years later, that the imagery of any Czech government upsetting its student population is going to create a major headache. Recent reforms proposed by the Czech Education Ministry under Josef Dobeš have achieved just that. Students are crying foul, with banners draped in universities across the country accusing the government of putting profits before education. This week, many Czech students have taken matters a step further

Krištof Kintera is one of the most respected contemporary Czech artists – he was recently given the title Artist of the Year – and his new exhibit offers an insight into his latest work. Provocative, whimsical and daring, the “Výsledky analýzy” show is one of the season’s most interesting exhibits. We take a look ahead of the opening.

Although the Czech government has refused to sign up to the EU’s fiscal discipline pact, frugality has become the order of the day and the finance minister has warned the nation that, come what may, fiscal discipline will be observed in the interest of bringing the country’s public finances under control. On Monday the cabinet’s economic ministers are meeting to debate austerity measures for 2013 which far surpass those previously undertaken.

Activists are holding a protest happening in front of Prague’s Pankrác prison, where Czech artist Roman Týc on Friday afternoon is starting a one-month prison sentence for a 2007 art project that involved defacing fifty traffic lights in Prague by changing the standard red and green figures to show them in situations such as drinking, urinating and hanging themselves. The artist says he chose prison time over paying a fine because otherwise he would be renouncing the project’s message. Titled “Bábovka pro Týce” or “A cake for Týc”, the happening

The battle over who should head the High State Attorney’s Office in Prague and the implications of the return of the office’s old-new head Vlastimil Rampula are very much at the centre of media attention. Radio Prague asked commentator Jiří Pehe for his interpretation of the affair.

The change of guard at the High State Attorney’s Office in Prague has sent reverberations across the political spectrum and has raised concerns regarding the independence of the Czech judiciary. Vlastimil Rampula, Prague Chief Prosecutor who was sacked last July on suspicion that he had been holding up key corruption investigations returned in triumph on Wednesday to reclaim his post after the Prague Municipal Court ruled that his dismissal was not sufficiently justified.

A recent study by the pro-civic engagement charity Oživení found that of five hundred disclosure declarations lodged by Czech politicians – MPs, Senators and local officials - roughly a quarter had errors or issues worthy of further investigation. Critics suggest that the current system simply is not working and with an array of authorities across the Czech Republic tasked with examining conflict of interest declarations – some admit that they do not even have the resources to fully check what public servants have declared. In addition, there are

Czech MEP Zuzana Roithová has confirmed that jailed former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has failed to receive adequate medical attention and is in serious condition. The MEP travelled to Kiev last Friday and was allowed to inspect medical records, which reportedly showed a decision should have been taken on surgery regarding the politician’s lumbar spine.

Something is in the air in Prague’s Old Town Hall: An exhibition titled “Other Air” gives the public a chance to see both a retrospective of Czech and Slovak surrealist art from the last two decades, as well as surrealist works from renowned international artists. In addition, the exhibition features a rich accompanying program with surrealist films and readings and a bilingual catalogue with surrealists texts. The ambitious project kicked off in February and will be running in the Czech capital until April. We spoke to artist and member of the

The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) has found that the number of 16-year-olds in the Czech Republic who drink beer or hard liquor on a regular basis has gone up. Back in 1995, 14 percent of the country’s sixteen-year-olds drank at least three times a month, but last year the percentage moved up to 20. By contrast, marijuana use dropped, if only slightly.