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May 19th marked what would have been the 107th birthday of Sir Nicholas Winton – the British humanitarian, who helped rescue mainly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in the run up to the Second World War. And the Czech Republic is participating in events staged in London to mark the birthday.

Expectations were low at first but grew as the group stage advanced. And most Czechs probably thought they had a better than even chance of reaching the ice hockey World Championship semi-finals and a chance of the medals by overcoming the United States. But a penalty shoot-out following a tense quarter-final match decided otherwise and the Czechs are now on their way home.

A debate in the Czech Senate held under the title “Should we fear Islam” turned stormy on Wednesday after one of the speakers compared Islam to totalitarian regimes such as Nazism or Communism. The ambassadors of several Muslim countries walked out in protest, and the Czech Foreign Ministry later issued a statement denouncing the comparison and calling for greater inter-religious dialogue.

With less than a month to go before talk turns from hockey to football, at least for most of the male Czech and European population, Czech national trainer Pavel Vrba has revealed the broad squad of players he is counting on for the European Championships. While the Czechs sailed through their qualifications for the finals in France, Vrba has had a lot of selection headaches to resolve.

Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec is heading for Friday’s talks in Brussels with a clear-cut mandate: the Czech Republic will actively support measures to tighten controls on Schengen’s outer borders and improve the efficiency of registration hotspots, but remains adamantly against a permanent redistribution mechanism.

The north Bohemian spa town of Teplice has produced a special guide for visitors from the Middle East, which includes advice on what to wear in the swimming pool and how to behave in public spaces. The leaflets were produced to minimize conflicts between the local people and visitors from Arab countries, who are the spa’s largest group of clients.

World-renowned conductor Jiří Bělohlávek, supermodel Eva Herzigová, and former Olympic gymnast Věra Čáslavská are among more than 30 signatories of an open letter calling on UK citizens to vote to stay in the EU in the upcoming referendum. Initiated by former Czech ambassador to London Michael Žantovský, the letter says that the United Kingdom has a crucial balancing role in European politics and its exit from the EU would be a mistake. I spoke to Michael Žantovský, who is now head of the Václav Havel library, and I first asked him about his motivations

Today it is easy to forget that Prague’s Letná Park overlooking the city once served as a pedestal to the largest statue in the world of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Derisively referred to as ‘fronta na maso’ (queue for meat), the massive granite work featured the marshal followed by a line of anonymous ‘heroes of the proletariat’. Prague was freed of the sculptural monstrosity in 1962; now, thanks to a film crew shooting the story of sculptor Otakar Švec, Stalin will temporarily return.

One of the biggest trade issues to be addressed by the end of this year should be the status of China and whether it should be recognized as a full fledged functioning market economy. The Czech Republic appears to be taking a negative stance on the decision which needs to be taken along with other EU states. Prague’s main worry is the impact on jobs in sensitive industrial sectors.

The annual meeting of the Sudeten-German Landsmannschaft in Nuremberg over the weekend is perceived as a turning point in the reconciliation between Czechs and Sudeten Germans. For the first time ever the Czech government sent an official representative to the gathering –Culture Minister Daniel Herman - who addressed the assembly as “dear compatriots”, expressing regret over the injustices that had broken up long years of fruitful coexistence.