Czechs should set euro adoption date, says Barroso
The president of the European Commission, Jose Barroso, has said the Czech Republic should set a target date for adoption of the common European currency.
He made the comments in an interview for the Czech newspaper DenĂk. The Czech government has refused to fix a date for adopting the euro, saying it is first necessary to implement reforms and stabilise the public finances. If Poland meets its freshly announced target of joining the eurozone in 2011, all of the Czech Republic’s neighbours will be using the currency in less than two and a half years’ time.
Meanwhile, Czech business leaders, concerned by the continuing strength of the Czech crown, have called on the government to speed up the euro adoption process. The crown has risen by nearly 20-percent year-on-year towards the euro, meaning smaller profits for companies who export to eurozone states.
Klaus: Civic Democrats affair reflects failure of system, not individuals
President Václav Klaus says a blackmail and entrapment affair that has rocked his party the Civic Democrats reflects a failure of the Czech political system rather than a failure of individuals. MP Jan Morava resigned this week after it emerged he had bought what appeared to be compromising photos of a Civic Democrat colleague, Vlastimil Tlustý. The latter has refused calls to resign for taking part in a tabloid TV sting. Mr Klaus said that contemporary Czech politics was bereft of ideology and had become a fight for power using all possible means; he said if politics had more content there would be no need for various kinds of dirty tricks.
On Thursday the Civic Democrats senators group called on Mr TlustĂ˝, who has a thorn in the side of the party leadership since being passed over for a cabinet post, to resign as an MP. Several senior party members have already urged him to quit.
Havel and Forman team up for Munich film
Two giants of Czech culture, playwright Václav Havel and film director Miloš Forman, are working together on a film about the Munich Agreement of 1938, under which the United Kingdom and France allowed Germany to annex parts of Czechoslovakia. Mladá fronta Dnes reported that the film is based on a novel by Georges-Marc Benamou entitled The Ghost of Munich; it describes the Munich conference from the point of view of former French prime minister Edouard Daladier. A Czech translation of the book with a foreword by Mr Havel is being released next week.
After leading the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Václav Havel became president of Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic. Miloš Forman is perhaps the most successful Czech film director, with best director Academy Awards for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus.
Ostrava police prepared for violence around football game
Around 800 police officers will be deployed when Spartak Moscow play a UEFA Cup game against BanĂk Ostrava in the north Moravian city next Thursday. Both Spartak and BanĂk have hooligan elements among their supporters and other trouble-makers are expected to come from across the border in Poland for the match. The Czech News Agency reported that BanĂk hooligans had refused an internet challenge from their Russian counterparts to a 200 against 200 fight at a set location away from Ostrava’s Bazaly stadium. Polish officers will also take part in a police operation aimed at preventing trouble.
Tobruk film goes on release
A new feature film about Czechoslovak soldiers who fought in the desert near the Libyan port of Tobruk in World War II goes on release in the Czech Republic on Thursday. Entitled Tobruk, it was produced and directed by Václav Marhoul and was made with support from the Czech Ministry of Defence. Mr Marhoul visited Czech troops at bases in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan in preparation for the movie, which focuses on the everyday lives of soldiers and features just one battle scene.
Czechs play out scoreless draw against Northern Ireland in first World Cup qualifier
The Czech Republic’s footballers drew 0:0 with Northern Ireland in Belfast on Wednesday night, in the first game of their campaign to reach the next World Cup. Goalkeeper Petr Čech was judged the Czechs’ best player in what was a game of few chances. Their next World Cup qualifier is away to Poland on October 11.
Two more medals for Czech Republic at Paralympics
Czech athletes have won two more medals at the Paralympics in Beijing. Eva Berná, who is 22, came third in the F37-38 category shot put, while Martin Zvolánek, 42, took bronze in the discus F32-51 category. The Czech team have so far taken 14 medals at the Paralympics and stand at 18th in the overall medals ranking.
Weather
It should get a little cooler in the next couple of days, with temperatures reaching a maximum of 19 degrees Celsius at the weekend. Skies will be largely clear.
(radio-Prague)
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