Current Affairs | All stories

Former prominent official of Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime, Miroslav Štěpán, has died at the age of 68. As leader of the Community Party in Prague, Mr Šťěpán authorized violent suppression of opposition protests in the regime’s final years; after its fall, he became one of few Communists convicted of abuse of office. Miroslav Štěpán later unsuccessfully attempted a political comeback, never giving up his hard-line views.

For the first time in a decade, the Czech Republic’s population declined last year. Newly released officials figures show that a total of 10,512,400 people lived in the country in 2013, some 3,700 fewer than in the previous year. The slight decline has been attributed to fewer births – but also a fall in fresh immigrants and a rise in the number of people leaving the country. I discussed the statistics with demographer Tomáš Kučera from Prague’s Charles University.

A monument to fallen soldiers, recently unveiled at a major Prague cemetery, has provoked some strong reactions from Czech politicians and other public figures. The group behind the monument, which bears Russian and Czech inscriptions, says it is tribute to all soldiers who have died in modern-era peacekeeping missions. But some believe the memorial also celebrates troops who invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Containing thousands of human bones arranged in various shapes, including a chandelier and coat of arms, an ossuary outside the Central Bohemian town of Kutná Hora is perhaps the Czech Republic’s most ghoulish tourist attraction. However, the “bone church” now faces extensive repair work – raising worries over how to reassemble some formations afterwards.

President Vladimir Putin’s signature on Tuesday of a treaty absorbing Crimea into Russia has met broad international condemnation. Here in the Czech Republic, the foreign minister says a speech by Mr. Putin signals fresh Russian imperial ambitions, while the country’s former top diplomat slammed an annexation with which Czechs can draw painful comparisons.

New numbers released by the Czech Social Security Administration have revealed that at the end of last year the Czech Republic had roughly 477,000 pensioners who had taken early retirement. That includes a marked pension cut of 1,160 crowns less per month. The number of early retirees has also tripled since the year 2000.

An OECD report unveiled on Tuesday gives a stark message that many aspects of the Czech economy are performing poorly and that economic growth could be significantly higher if problems of poor administration, regulation and competition were addressed.

March 17,1939 brought a revolution on Czech roads: the commander of the German occupation forces ordered a change-over to a right-hand traffic system with almost immediate effect. Although the change had been in the pipeline for years its immediate enforcement was not easy. Moreover, Prague was given a 9-day reprieve, creating a schizophrenic situation where drivers in the capital still drove on the left, but elsewhere around the country traffic was already moving on the right.

Some 40 families of Czech expatriots from western Ukraine have asked the Czech government to help them repatriate to the old country, citing concerns about the future of Ukraine. The Czech government said it was looking at the petition while the Foreign Ministry says fast-track residency permits are available to expats from around the globe.

Czech Catholic priest and academic Tomáš Halík has received the Templeton Prize in recognition of his efforts to bridge gaps between atheists and believers and his underground work under communism. The honour, which comes with a large monetary award, has in the past gone to Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama, and other internationally renowned spiritual leaders.