Czech Defence Minister Vlastimil Picek will propose that the Czech Republic renew its lease on 14 Swedish fighter jets beyond 2015. The minister said on Saturday he would present the government with the proposal next week and expected to see it approved. The new contract with Stockholm on the renewed lease of supersonic JAS-39 Gripen combat jets could be inked at the end of the year or in early 2014 by the new government. According to the minister the new contract will be a better deal for the Czech Republic and would be valid for a period longer than 10 years. The Czech army paid nearly 20 billion crowns (780 million euros, 1 billion US dollars) to lease the Gripens for a decade starting 2005.
President Miloš Zeman and unsuccessful presidential candidate Jan Fischer will not have to pay gift tax on money from sponsors which they received after the presidential election. Of all presidential candidates they alone were unable to settle their campaign debts within the legal deadline. The Interior Ministry and the Financial Administration Office said that despite this irregularity it was obvious that the donated finances were intended for the presidential campaign and no gift tax was required. This decision will save President Miloš Zeman an estimated one million crowns, and his unsuccessful rival for the presidency half that sum.
Three hundred Czech towns and cities have joined in the celebrations of European Heritage Days. The annual event, organized jointly by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, offers Europeans the opportunity to visit buildings, monuments and sites, many of which are not normally accessible to the public. The Czech Republic has taken part in the celebrations since 1991 and between now and September 15th people will be able to view over 1,000 monuments and historical sites for free. This year’s Czech celebrations opened in the city of Olomouc with an outdoor opera performance of Verdi’s Nabucco, a light show, a baroque pantomime and an exhibition of young designers.
A group of German anti-nuclear activists staged protests against the Temelin nuclear power plant at three border crossings with the Czech Republic on Saturday. According to the DPA news agency the protests took place at Saska Kamenice/Chemnitz, Amberg and the German town of Marktredwitz, located some 20 kms west of Cheb. The demonstrators called on the Czech authorities to close down the south Bohemian power plant and protested against plans for its expansion by another two nuclear reactors by 2025. The Czech side is still in the process of considering bids and it is not certain that the project will go ahead as planned.
Lawyer and former police investigator Václav Láska, who cooperates closely with Transparency International, is to head the Green party’s ballot in central Bohemia an independent candidate. Mr. Láska, who specialized in economic crime, investigated many high profile cases involving abuse of office, manipulation of public tenders and abuse of public finances. Mr. Láska said that if he got elected to the lower house he would focus primarily on pushing through effective anti-corruption laws.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs wants doctors to communicate medical documentation –such as notice of paid sick leave – electronically rather than by post as they have in the past. An effort to get this introduced last year hit the rocks and its planned implementation as of the beginning of 2014 remains highly complicated. According to the Czech Doctors’ Chamber twenty percent of doctors, mainly in small towns and villages, do not use computers and 40 percent of physicians do not have a reliable Internet connection. The head of the chamber has warned that if this change is enforced the system of paid sick leave would collapse and tens of thousands of people would be affected. The electronic system is already up and running but apparently very few doctors use it.
Czech composer, pianist, dedicated teacher and writer Ilya Hurník has died at the age of 90. He authored a number of operas (including Oldrich and Bozenka and A Lady and Robbers (a tragi-comic opera in four acts to the composer's own libretto loosely adapted after William Rose's The Lady killers), several symphonic works, a ballet (Ondráš) children’s songs and many essays and short stories. As a pianist he specialized in the works of Claude Debussy and Leos Janacek.
The weekend should bring sunny and warm weather with daytime highs reaching 26 degrees Celsius.
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