France has repatriated a group of women and their children from camps in Syria where suspected family members of the Islamic State terror cell have been held since the organization’s downfall, the French foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday.
A total of 16 women and 35 children currently being cared for by social services were told they could return to France, the largest group to return to the country since 2019 when the Islamic State lost control of its territory in Syria and Iraq.
“France has allowed the return of 35 children from camps in the north of Syria today to the country. This operation also included the return of 16 mothers from the same camps,” the French ministry said.
All the women, of whom 14 have French citizenship and two are mothers of children with French nationality, ended up in custody. The authorities also imposed this on one minor, who will soon turn 18.
Since 2016, 126 children whose parents joined the Islamic State have returned to France. However, around 200 children and 80 of their mothers are still waiting to return to Europe in northern Syria.
U.N. and NGOs are pushing for return of Islamist families
According to Le Monde, Paris has a stricter approach to its citizens in camps in Syria than neighboring Belgium, which practically enabled the return of all children and mothers who have Belgian citizenship. France instead assesses each request individually. The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child criticized the country for this practice in the past. According to the U.N. body, Paris violated the rights of the child with its approach.
The committee pointed out the squalid conditions in the camps that threaten children’s lives. Occupants are often living in overcrowded tents, exposed to extreme temperatures, lack food and drinking water, and lack access to education, a U.N. committee said in a report in February.
The Collectif des Familles Unies, an organization bringing together relatives of French people who went to Iraq and Syria to join IS, welcomed the decision.
“This is the first time that France has allowed the return of children together with their mothers from Syrian prison camps,” said the association, which hopes to change the attitude of the French authorities.
Psychologists, lawyers, and some legislators are also calling on the government to enable a widespread return. According to AFP, the French government is proceeding cautiously so as not to upset public opinion. Polls in the past have shown that most of the French oppose the return of jihadist children.
Czech fighters will temporarily protect Slovakian airspace from Sep. 1, Prime Minister Petr Fiala and his Slovak counterpart, Eduard Heger, announced on public broadcaster Czech Television on Sunday.
The assistance will last until Slovakia receives its order of American F-16 fighter jets, the delivery of which has been delayed.
“Slovakia can count on the defense of its airspace. It is a beautiful example of trust and cooperation. We’ll be happy to do that. We are ready technically and in terms of capacity,” Fiala said, adding that this will start Sep. 1.
Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď asked Czechia for help with airspace protection in June.
“It is also in our interest,” Fiala said. “We cannot allow a country that borders a war to be threatened in any way. It is our joint task.”
“I am very grateful that our countries are not only historically close but that relations are improving,” Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger added. “You were one of the first to provide us with soldiers. Now, you will protect our airspace.”
According to Heger, the assistance should last at least a year, and likely longer. The American F-16 fighter jets ordered by the previous Slovak government should arrive by the end of 2024. The deliveries have been delayed due to Covid-19 and the global shortage of chips. The F-16s will replace the country’s Russian-made MiG-29 aircraft.
Czechia may also want to upgrade its air force
The Czech government will also address the issue of fighter planes in its Air Force during the summer. In 2027, the leases on its Swedish JAS-39 Gripen fighters will end, and it is necessary to decide whether the country will continue to use these planes or switch to others. Recently, there has been a lot of speculation about the transition to American F-35 fighters.
Sweden’s ambassador told the media this week that his country is willing to hand over the existing machines free of charge if Czechia continues with the Gripens. However, Defense Minister Jana Černochová and Fiala said they have not officially received such an offer.
Fiala and Heger also agreed that the eastern wing of NATO needed to be further strengthened. In the coming months, members will create a plan to protect NATO’s borders in the long term.
“We are discussing how to set up the defense architecture of the entire European territory very intensively. We have to send a strong signal, but plans need to be not for three and four years, but 10, 20, 50 years,” said Heger.
At the same time, both prime ministers announced that they would ratify Sweden and Finland as members of NATO, which should happen at the beginning of autumn. The Nordic countries are expected to sign the accession protocols later this week.
A law allowing same-sex couples to marry came into force in Switzerland on Friday; it also provides these couples with new rights in relation to adoption and artificial insemination.
The law was approved by an almost two-thirds majority of voters in a referendum last September, although participation in the vote was not very high, according to Swiss media.
Since 2007, same-sex couples have been able to enter into a registered partnership in Switzerland, however, marriage will bring them new rights. For example, they will be able to adopt a child, and if one spouse is a foreign national, they will be able to acquire Swiss citizenship more quickly; same-sex female couples will also have greater access to artificial insemination.
That is why Lucille and Pauline Bidaux-Meyer decided to get married on Friday, telling Swissinfo.ch, “Marriage represents more security for our family.”
The law additionally means they do not have to go abroad to undergo artificial insemination. “The procedure may be more expensive in Switzerland, but on the other hand, we will not have to travel abroad often and sometimes for a long time,” the pair told the Swiss news outlet.
Interest in gay marriage has been low so far
One of the first homosexual couples were married on Friday by the mayor of Geneva, Marie Barbey-Chappuis, who supports the new law.
“It’s very moving. It’s a very powerful moment that sends an equally powerful message to society — to have the freedom to love and be loved,” the mayor said.
Ilan and Adrien, who have been living in a registered partnership since 2019, also got married on Friday.
“We wanted to get married today, when the law comes into force, to express our appreciation to all those who have tried to enforce this right,” one of the newlyweds told Swissinfo.ch. Adrien also welcomed the new law because he claims registered partnerships are stigmatizing.
“When I stated somewhere that I was living in a registered partnership, I automatically said that I was living with a man, and I didn’t always want this,” he said.
According to the RTS broadcaster, however, the interest in getting married is not very high. In the canton of Geneva, where about half a million people live, 40 gay couples have expressed their desire to get married by the end of the year, and about another 40 couples want to convert their registered partnership into a marriage.
The Czech Republic is one of the few countries in the EU that has not yet done anything to mitigate the impact of sharply rising electricity prices on households and businesses. The increase is not just the result of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Electricity prices had been on the rise long before Vladimir Putin attacked the neighboring country on Feb. 24., and are not the result of the invisible hand of the market.
On the contrary, the issue stems from the very visible political drive for a carbon-free economy which makes electricity production more expensive through various regulations like emissions allowances and taxonomy and the push to end some “dirty” energy sources. Many countries are pursuing renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuels. So, a critical electricity shortage happens in Europe when there is not enough light and wind. This is helping drive energy prices higher.
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It is a purely political increase in price that will not disappear when the war in Ukraine ends. Increasing energy prices and their impact on other prices are the main reason why Europe is experiencing its highest inflation in decades, and the Czech Republic, with inflation at 16 percent, is seeing one of the worst rates in Europe.
Psychologically, everything is explained by high electricity bills. A restauranteur, a grocer, a travel agent, and a clothing merchant will sadly tell customers that there is no other way: “The price of energy has gone up, so my prices must rise too.”
The surest way to curb inflation is to stop or moderate the rise in electricity prices. For gas and oil, which trade globally, it is more complicated. But a large part of European countries, including Czechia, produce enough electricity themselves, and those production costs, except for gas power plants, have not increased significantly.
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The rise in prices is being kept under control the most in countries where, even before the war, it was possible to cap electricity prices. France and Slovakia have been fixing prices for households and companies since January and the first half of February, respectively.
There is nothing anti-market about it, and certainly not left-wing. Electricity becomes more expensive through direct political interventions, such as pushing for a carbon-free economy or invading Ukraine. These are political actions par excellence — it is not a higher power or the hand of the market.
So far, we have not heard from the Czech government — except for the energy-saving tariff, which is compensation for high prices from the state budget — on what it wants to do about the sharply rising cost of electricity. Prime Minister Petr Fiala says the state can control 100 percent of the currently semi-state power company ČEZ within two years. This week, we heard from ČEZ board member Pavel Cyrani at the company’s general meeting that this move will only come in June 2023 at the earliest.
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Setting electricity prices, as the French or Slovaks do it, is therefore not in sight in the next year, but the situation needs to be resolved now. The future chairman of the National Budget Council and former vice-governor of the Czech National Bank, Mojmír Hampl, has come up with the idea of a windfall tax, a tax that will drain energy companies of the extraordinary profits they earn from high electricity prices. The state would use taxes collected from them to reduce electricity bills for people and companies. This way, it would not have to increase the national debt.
Such a policy would deliver the same result as electricity price caps. It is just that the whole thing is bureaucratically more complicated, and profits from taxing high electricity prices have to be funneled through the state budget. Fixing the price via ČEZ itself would be simpler, more elegant, and cheaper to manage. Other players on the market would then have to adapt to the fixed price. Otherwise, they would not be able to compete.
However, if capping electricity prices at ČEZ is not legally possible now, this tax is a reasonable solution. Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura already said that he will consider it and discuss it at the government’s National Economic Council.
But there is no time to wait. The longer expensive electricity hikes all other prices, the worse the overall price increase will be. The problem won’t go away. The governments in Europe that are moving fast know what they are doing. And their inflation is significantly lower than ours.
An Afghan national has received a two-year custodial sentence in France after being found guilty of repeatedly breaking into the same apartment at least four times and sexually assaulting the female occupants.
The man, a 26-year Afghan national known only as Najib, committed the offenses during the summer of 2021 at an apartment on rue Caponière in Caen. On various dates throughout July and August 2021, the three young women who share the apartment filed complaints after waking up to the defendant lying next to them in bed in the middle of the night, according to French news outlet Actu.fr.
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He had been in pre-trial detention since October 2021, having been charged with three counts of sexual assault and a theft charge committed between July and September 2021.
Woken up in the night by an individual in their beds
The young women described the same individual, the same build, and the same hairstyle to the authorities.
The defendant is understood to have initially broken into the apartment by breaking a window, before stealing a key and using this to enter the premises on subsequent occasions.
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An investigation led to Najib, who was in possession of the bracelets and the stolen money but did not acknowledge the sexual abuse. Since he arrived in France in 2017, the man has been in an irregular situation due to his criminal record, which includes theft and fraud. He claims to have fled the Taliban following the kidnapping and assassination of his father, who reportedly worked for the American Red Cross.
Two years out of the four years demanded by the prosecution
Even if the complainants did not formally recognize the individual present in the court, due to the darkness and the wearing of a mask during his acts, his guilt was beyond doubt for the prosecutor Jean-Michel Rotaru.
“It was he who was in possession of the items stolen from the scene, and the three victims described a man who looks a lot like him,” said Rotaru, who sought a four-year sentence for the assailant.
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Najib received two years in prison and is being held in detention. Once released from prison, he will be banned from French territory for 10 years. If it turns out that he still lives in France, socio-legal follow-up will be ordered for three years, with the obligation of psychological and addictology care. If he fails to meet these obligations, he will have to serve an additional year in prison. The defendant is also required to pay €1,500 to each of the three victims for moral damages, as well as €1,600 in legal fees.
The man is now registered with FIJAIS, the file of perpetrators of sexual offenses.
As the NATO summit in Madrid enters its final day, representatives of the member state governments have agreed on several points in an official statement adopted on Wednesday.
In addition to strengthening combat groups, such as the one in Slovakia, they also agreed to increase the number of rapid reaction units, as General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg had predicted before the meeting. So far, 600 soldiers have been set aside for this purpose within the Czech army. There are currently 40,000 soldiers in rapid reaction units across the alliance’s member states, and there is talk of increasing this number to 300,000 in the future.
These special multi-national units consist of ground troops and members of the naval and air forces across the alliance’s armies. Their purpose is to react quickly so they can intervene in days and weeks anywhere on NATO territory in the event of a conflict. The building of the NATO Response Force began after the Prague Summit in 2002; however, they were not activated until February this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Only when the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula took place in 2014 did the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force begin to emerge to be able to deploy forces even more immediately. This now includes members of the well-known 31st Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Regiment of Liberec, who have gained international respect, for example, on missions in Afghanistan, as well as the entire 4th Rapid Deployment Brigade of Žatec.
Czech soldiers serving on the eastern NATO border
The General Staff of the Czech Army does not yet want to comment on how much Czech participation could increase with the expansion of these forces. The official statement, which the country’s leaders including Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala adopted on Wednesday, does not mention specific numbers. If, as Jens Stoltenberg claimed, the increase in the force is more than seven-fold, it could mean thousands of Czech soldiers.
In response to a question from the Echo24 daily, Colonel Magdalena Dvořáková stated on behalf of the General Staff of the Czech Army that the Czech Republic currently has 800 soldiers deployed on missions in Lithuania, Latvia, and Slovakia. The members of the 43rd Airborne Regiment from Chrudim now form the core of the Czech contingent in Slovakia. According to earlier statements, a mechanized company on Pandur armored personnel carriers is to leave for Slovakia in July.
Sweden and Finland to join NATO
At the Madrid summit, North Atlantic leaders agreed to further increase aid to Ukraine and decided to formally launch the process of admitting Sweden and Finland to the military pact. They described Russia as the most significant and direct threat to the security of member countries.
While the Russian Federation used to be a “strategic partner” of NATO a decade ago, the Alliance did not even think of China at the time.
“China is not an opponent of NATO, but we must have a clear view of the challenges it poses,” Stoltenberg said on Wednesday evening.
A study commissioned by the FPS Public Health and the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men in Belgium estimated that 23,395 women and children across the country have undergone partial or total removal of their external genitalia, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM).
The study was presented on Tuesday to the press in the presence of the Secretary of State for Gender Equality Sarah Schlitz. It was carried out by two researchers, a demographer and a midwife in public health, and also concludes that more than 12,000 girls or women living in Belgium are “potentially at risk of excision” because of their origins.
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This is the fourth study on the subject. The previous one, based on data from 2016, estimated that 17,575 women were “very likely to be circumcised,” and 8,342 girls were “at risk of circumcision.” The numbers have been steadily increasing since monitoring of the situation began in 2007.
The women living in Belgium, presumed to be circumcised or at risk of being circumcised, are primarily from Guinea, Somalia, and Egypt. They live mainly in Flanders (16,089), and to a lesser extent in Brussels (7,989) and Wallonia (9,784).
“Migration continues, and migrant people are often younger and, therefore, have children,” noted Fabienne Richard, one of the researchers.
The provinces of Antwerp, Liège, and the Brussels-Capital Region are the areas that receive the most women and girls who are victims of or at risk of female genital mutilation.
The problem of female genital mutilation is almost entirely a problem seen in migrant communities, which is the case in countries such as Germany. The number of girls and women who are victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Germany has increased by 44 percent since 2017 to 68,000, announced former German Minister for Family Affairs Franziska Giffey in 2020.
According to the minister, mainly migration is to blame for the massive increase as many migrants coming to Germany commonly practice FGM in their own home countries.
More than a third are minors
Among the approximately 35,000 women and girls estimated by the study in Belgium, more than a third are minors.
“There is a crucial need to inform and raise awareness of the communities concerned, especially as the holidays approach, which is a high-risk period with returns to the countries of origin,” warns Fabienne Richard.
Among other recommendations resulting from the study, the researchers also consider it necessary to establish a female genital mutilation (FGM) trajectory for families who have come to Belgium through family reunification.
More generally, the recommendations call for a uniform policy in all schools to identify all forms of sexual violence against children early on. On the caregiver side, the theme of FGM should be integrated into their curriculum and become a part of their continual education.
“These studies are essential so that political decision-makers can anchor their work in the realities on the ground,” said Secretary of State Sarah Schlitz. At the same time, Schlitz announced two upcoming awareness campaigns; one to raise awareness of the two accredited centers offering comprehensive care for circumcised women (CeMAViE at the CHU St Pierre in Brussels and the VrouwenKliniek at the UZ in Ghent), and another for prevention during vacations, which often take place in the women’s home countries.
The Czech government has no ambition to change current legislation on the right to abortion, the country’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka said on Tuesday in response to Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week overturned a nearly 50-year-old verdict in the Roe v. Wade trial, which enshrined the right to abortion throughout the United States. After the verdict, the decision returns to the individual American states, with more conservative states now expected to ban the practice, meaning women seeking an abortion in these states will have to travel to states where the procedure remains available.
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka says the government will not change its position on abortion.
Jurečka stated on Tuesday that while he considers abortion to be the killing of a human being, the Czech cabinet has no ambition to change the regulation in the country. According to Jurečka, it is necessary to look for ways to make it easier for women to decide to keep a child.
“It’s important for me to look for ways to offer a different decision for the mother, for her to be able to decide to keep the baby, give birth to it and take care of it, either by herself or with the support that we, as the state, can provide,” Jurečka said. He mentioned the possibility of a more efficient social system, a better network of support and counseling, and early intervention.
“Now, I will express my opinion for myself as a father and a human being: It is a living human fetus, and (abortion) is the killing of that human,” said Jurečka. He added that he understands and respects the decision that a woman must make.
“It is extremely complicated. I have no ambition to judge in any way. It is a decision that a woman must, in a way, justify to herself internally. The task for me as a politician is to create conditions so that the woman does not have to make such a decision,” he added.
For households in Slovakia, natural gas prices will increase by a total of 76 percent over the next four years if they enter a long-term contract with the state gasworks SPP, the largest gas supplier in the country.
The highest price hike, by about a third, will occur in 2023, Slovakia’s Economy Minister Richard Sulík said on Monday, adding that the state supports the installation of alternative energy sources, but the limited number of equipment suppliers and installation companies is slowing down the use of subsidies.
“SPP will not earn anything from it; SPP will operate at a loss for the first two years,” said Sulík.
If consumers do not agree to a long-term contract with SPP, they will probably pay more than 150 percent for gas next year, the minister warned, claiming the second largest supplier on the market will also choose a similar procedure as SPP.
High energy prices are contributing to a faster inflation rate in Slovakia and other countries. Regulated energy prices for households in Slovakia usually change once a year; this year, the price of gas has risen by about a fifth, after becoming cheaper last year.
Limited number of suppliers is slowing down the process
Electricity should not increase in price for most households in Slovakia following a signed memorandum by Slovenské elektrárne, the largest electricity producer in the country, to supply part of its production to the market at a discounted price.
Slovakia previously increased subsidies for households for renewable energy sources to €45 million, which is three times the initial level. Furthermore, €23 million from the additional package of funds remains available. The allocation date for a heat pump, solar collectors, photovoltaic panels, and a biomass boiler is not decided by the registration deadline but by the installation of the equipment.
“We have a limited number of suppliers of these devices, and a limited number of those who can install them. Anyone who submits a contract by the end of the year will receive support,” said Sulík.
Money from European funds is also earmarked for subsidies. For this reason, homeowners from the Bratislava region, where the standard of living is the highest in Slovakia, cannot apply for subsidies.
After rival migrant clans brawled in the German city of Essen, even larger clan groups gathered less than 24 hours later at the same location to fight, resulting in a stabbing that left one man seriously injured. Police officials say the tensions between rival migrant gangs are the main motive behind the clashes, but fears for a more widespread conflict are also growing.
The first mass brawl happened on Saturday and involved approximately 30 people in Essen’s Altendorf district. Police say that during this first incident, a number of arrests were made, but no one was seriously injured and there were no weapons involved. However, over 100 individuals belonging to rival clans then gathered at the same place the next day on Sunday, and this time they were armed with knives and sticks; they also utilized furniture and even plates as weapons during this second melee.
A video of the incident shows large masses of migrant clans battling it out on the street.
One man was seriously injured with a stab wound to the neck and remains in the hospital, but a number of other participants were injured as well, according to the German Die Welt news outlet.
According to local reports, the trigger for the violence was likely a dispute between two large families. The feud may have been sparked by a Cologne music manager, who has several rappers signed under contract, after he was insulted by a member of another extended family.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul has increasingly tried in recent years to take action against gang violence, especially in the Ruhr area, a place where migrant clan crime remains a major problem.
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Clan crisis could spiral
Despite the state making it a priority to fight clan crime, a Die Welt report indicates that “residents of the district have given up hope that the German state can still create order here.”
After initially refusing to speak to a reporter, one witness said that “a few hundred Arabs” fought on Saturday at Altendorfer Strasse and attacked each other with knives and furniture. He saw that one person had been stabbed in the neck but refused to give his name, which the Die Welt report notes is the common position for those who witness crimes in the district. The man said that the feud between the clans will not end.
“It will continue and get worse,” he said, forming a pistol with his right hand and pulling its invisible trigger with his index finger. He warned that “if the boy dies, they’ll shoot here,” referring to the seriously injured man in the hospital.
After a migrant clan member was stabbed to death this year by a rival clan, police reported that clan members were seeking out the murder suspect themselves and were looking to serve him “vigilante justice.” Germany has long been plagued by migrant clan violence, along with countries like Sweden, where up to 40 clans are believed to be operating.
The eurozone is swimming in money, with the amount of cash in circulation in the EU increasing sixfold between 2014 and 2021. The balance sheet total of the European Central Bank (ECB), which grew from €1 trillion to €2 trillion between 1999 and 2015, is now a staggering €8.8 trillion. At the end of 2021, half of the ECB’s balance sheet consisted of government bonds from the euro area, i.e., the debt of the euro countries, writes Markus Brandstetter for Junge Freiheit.
The American winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Milton Friedman, once said: Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. By this, he meant that inflation is always triggered by a previous increase in the money supply. Not by a supply or demand shock such as a sudden increase in energy prices or helicopter money from the government.
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Friedman’s dictum clearly states that wars, catastrophes, global warming, unions or the oil sheiks are not to blame for inflation — but solely the central banks. If central banks increased the money supply strictly in line with increases in economic productivity, there would be no inflation.
However, without the ECB, there would also be no debt-financed rescue programs that feed every unproductive economy in the eurozone and buy government bonds from countries with lousy credit ratings. And there would not be all the rescue packages, special funds, supplementary budgets, and relief for citizens, all of which have been financed in the EU for years through new debt. Without the ECB and its diverse aid programs, which hide behind acronyms that no one can remember, the EU would probably have fallen apart in 2009 after the financial crisis.
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The EU is not broken, but all of its previous actions are now costing Europe. During the golden years between 2010 and 2020, when unemployment, interest rates, and inflation were low, the economy was growing, and stock and real estate markets were racing from record to record, and no one thought about inflation. Everyone expected the ECB’s perpetual motion machine of boundless money creation to keep turning indefinitely and comfortably finance more and more debt for EU states.
Then, in the fall of 2021, a monster emerged from the depths that most, especially the ECB bankers, had long thought dead: inflation. In May 2021, the consumer price index in Germany reached 2.5 percent for the first time since 1994; in October, it was already 4.5 percent, at the end of the year, it was 5.3 percent, and in May 2022, it was 7.9 percent.
Lonely voices in the desert warned early on about currency devaluation. One of them was Hans-Werner Sinn, the former head of the Munich ifo Institute, who, in a clairvoyant book in 2021, denounced the ECB’s “miraculous increase in the money supply” and concluded from the increase in commercial producer prices that severe inflation was on the way. Nobody listened to him, not even his institute, which in September 2021 forecast a comfortable inflation rate of 2.3 percent for the following year.
Christine Lagarde, head of the ECB, was always particularly relaxed about inflation. For nine months, Lagarde declared price increases to be “temporary,” brusquely brushed aside all criticism of her course of action, muzzled critics within the ECB, and blamed the rising prices on everything she could think of: coronavirus, problems with the supply chains, and the war in Ukraine — in other words, everything other than the flood of money that she had helped initiate.
Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank president, arrives for a press conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
When Lagarde finally announced anti-inflation measures in June, it was clear that they were not powerful enough. Now, bond purchases are to be scaled back on July 1, and then at the end of July, the key interest rate will rise to 0.25 percent and later rise in quarter-percent increments. That will not be enough to catch Europe’s long-running, out-of-control inflation, and that reality has to do with the various factors that exist now, which do not trigger inflation on their own but exacerbate existing inflation. There is a war in Europe, and China, with its already ailing economy, is teetering from lockdown to lockdown. At the same time, the U.S. is trying to control its own inflation monster with drastic interest rate hikes, which will plunge the country into a severe recession.
Inflation will not go away
So, what is next? Certainly not what the ifo Institute, which is currently forecasting an inflation rate of 3.3 percent and growth of 3.7 percent for 2023, believes will happen. Such a scenario would certainly point to the situation being under control, but the ECB will not achieve this because it neither can nor really wants to.
The ECB’s contractual goal is price stability, but since the global financial crisis, the central bankers in Frankfurt have seen their main task as preventing the EU from breaking up. In that, it will only succeed if the interest rates on the government debt of all countries that owe more than 100 percent of their annual economic output, i.e., Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, France, and Belgium, do not get out of hand.
Impending national bankruptcy
If the ECB gradually increased the key interest rate to several percent and stopped buying government bonds from heavily indebted euro countries, the debts of these countries would soon no longer be affordable, and the threat of national bankruptcies would arise. Since the ECB cannot counter inflation effectively, inflation in Germany and the EU will become entrenched. At the same time, the entire EU will go through a severe recession, bringing back the dreaded stagflation of the 1970s.
Because the American Federal Reserve, in contrast to the ECB, is now raising interest rates quickly and significantly, the dollar will gain massively in strength against the euro. That will also fuel local inflation since oil is paid for in U.S. dollars worldwide. The rise in interest rates will also end cheap credit, which will cause problems for highly leveraged companies.
That, in turn, will have a massive impact on stock markets and especially cryptocurrencies, which are already facing a year-long downturn. As a result of the ECB’s misguided monetary policy, Germany is facing the most striking loss of prosperity in 50 years, a loss that will hit pensioners, the poor, and poorly-qualified people particularly hard.
Czechia is experiencing a drought that affects nearly the entire country, but experts say it is not necessarily due to a lack of rainfall. Instead, they say that the unusually warm winter means there was little snow to melt in the country.
This year, precipitation totals do not differ significantly from the long-term average. Nevertheless, the drought has affected the vast majority of the Czech Republic, with extreme drought befalling 20 percent of the country, according to the Intersucho project. Scientists have observed significantly lower than normal values in soil moisture, river flow, and groundwater supply.
Drought has affected northwestern, southern, and central-eastern Bohemia the most. Southern Moravia and Šumava have been affected the least. The river flows are mostly below average, in many places significantly. Regular flows can be seen only rarely, according to the data of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI). The groundwater level is also significantly lower than usual.
According to CHMI, it rained an average of 8 mm in the third June week, which is only half of the normal amount for this time. The landscape is showing distress from a combination of dry and hot days, during which heat does not dissipate into the upper atmosphere, and in addition, there is a lack of clouds that could block the sunshine and prevent further moisture loss.
Warm and dry winter
According to the coordinator of the Intersucho project, Professor Miroslav Trnka from the Institute of Global Change Research of the Academy of Sciences, the current drought was not caused by a lack of rainfall but rather by a lack of water supplies in the landscape after the warm winter.
“This year’s precipitation totals have not differed dramatically from the averages. The problem is not that the precipitation was poor in winter, but rather that the winter was significantly warmer, and the precipitation did not fall in the form of snow and largely flowed away and evaporated,“ said Trnka.
Climatologist Pavel Zahradníček also sees the warm winter as a sign of future droughts.
“Snow is very important for replenishing soil moisture and groundwater. In 2020, it was a very poor winter for snow, and this deficit was only cleared by above-average rains half a year later,” he said.
According to Zahradníček, snow also plays a role at the beginning of the growing season, when the plants wake up and need to draw moisture from the soil for their growth, which is gradually replenished by melting snow.
Heat and droughts will be more common
Miroslav Trnka also described how climate change affects periods of drought. According to him, temperature extremes, lack of water, and severe storms will become more intense and frequent.
“There will be more days with record temperatures, and heat waves will lengthen in time. We have been predicting these things for about two decades, and we know they will happen.”
However, according to Trnka, a significant manifestation of climate change will be the overall transformation of climate conditions that we have grown accustomed to.
Germany will face “three to five very difficult years” that will call in question the country’s “prosperity paradigm,” former Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück warned on Wednesday.
During an appearance on the Maischberger talk show, the Social Democrat (SPD) politician said that Germany will not see any growth and in turn this could hurt the country’s social welfare distribution model. His successor Christian Lindner (FDP) already made a similar statement on Tuesday.
Unemployment is also likely to rise, warned Steinbrück, who stressed that the gravitas of the situation had not yet reached the German populace.
“I believe that the civilian population has not yet, because of certain inertia, understood what this turning point means,” he told the talk show.
Steinbrück blamed the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) for the current situation, claiming the rise in inflation was predictable and “a risk hanging over us for a year or two.” In his view, the currency devaluation is not solely due to the Russian war in Ukraine but rather the risk had been created beforehand, “among other things due to the ultra-expansive policy of the ECB.”
The ECB underestimated inflation and tried to camouflage it, Steinbrück said, accusing the bank of “pumping a lot of money into the markets” and claiming that “it should have known that the question was: How do I get the toothpaste back in the tube?”
Inflation was already steadily rising before the pandemic, with many central banks embarking on a historic level of money printing that many economists pin as the primary cause of the rampant inflation seen across the globe.
Criticism of the EU status of “highly corrupt” Ukraine
Steinbrück does not believe that his successor as finance minister, Christian Lindner, will be able to comply with the debt brake in the future:
“I don’t know how he wants to do it. Above all, how he wants to do it without tax increases.” Steinbrück said, suggesting an increase in inheritance tax as a possibility.
“There are admission criteria, and, unfortunately, Ukraine is quite far from that,” said the former politician, adding that Ukraine is a country “riddled with oligarchs, which is highly corrupt, and which has a very political judiciary.”
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has reiterated his government’s top priority to rid Czechia of its dependence on Russian gas and oil, outlining the steps he intends to take to achieve this goal in a speech to the nation on Wednesday.
During the address, Fiala accused Russia of waging two wars: first, a military war in Ukraine, and secondly a moral-economic war aimed at the countries of the Western world.
“Russia wants to make us weak, and therefore vulnerable to blackmail,” the prime minister said, adding that there was a real threat that in the coming weeks or months, Russia could “turn the tap and turn off gas and oil to cause us as much trouble as possible.” According to Fiala, it is, therefore, necessary for Czechia to end its dependence on Russian resources as soon as possible.
The steps to be taken by the Czech government to help the country achieve this include increasing the capacity of gas and oil pipelines from EU countries, acquiring additional capacity in LNG terminals, and supporting the construction of emissions-free energy sources, Fiala said.
According to the prime minister, domestic gas storage facilities are about two-thirds full, and thus, should a crisis scenario occur in the winter, Czechia will be able to secure sufficient supplies for all households.
Nuclear energy remains the pillar of Czech energy self-sufficiency, Fiala said; however, at the same time, the government plans to support the construction of photovoltaic power plants and the use of heat pumps.
The country’s energy strategy should also include a substantial increase in the volume of domestic bio-gas production, as well as support for investments in energy innovation and savings, according to the prime minister.
“It will cost a lot of effort and money, but it is a path that will pay off in the end,” Fiala said.
The government also plans to take control of the entire network of key Czech power plants in the near future to secure its own electricity generation.
Among the steps already taken by Fiala’s cabinet are the setting aside of 66 billion korunas (€2.66 billion) to help companies and households with energy for the upcoming heating season and the abolition of the fee for renewable sources.
The ruling coalition leaders in Czechia do not see any reason for remaking the government because of the ongoing corruption scandal, known as the “Dosimeter case,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Tuesday.
Education Minister Petr Gazdík of Fiala’s coalition partner, STAN, resigned earlier this week due to his connection to the case, while Interior Minister Vít Rakušan reportedly retains the trust of the Czech prime minister. STAN wants to present the new candidate for the education minister by the end of the week, according to Rakušan.
“We have agreed that we see no reason to rebuild the government and take steps like that,” Fiala said. Interior Minister Rakušan has the “absolute confidence” of the coalition leaders when it comes to the impartiality of the investigation of the case and its fair result, the prime minister added
Rakušan was pleased that the leaders of the ODS, Christian Democrats, TOP 09, and Pirates expressed their confidence in him, and has assured them that the Dosimeter case will be resolved consistently and according to the zero-tolerance principle.
The Dosimeter case
In the ongoing Dosimeter case, according to the police, the organized group of 13 men systematically occupied key positions in the city-owned Prague Transport Company so that the appointment of friendly managers could influence various tenders and obtain bribes from the winning companies. Among the accused are former Deputy Mayor of Prague Petr Hlubuček, whose membership in STAN was suspended due to the case, and businessman Michal Redl.
Gazdík left office because of his contacts with Redl, although he is not under investigation himself. According to Rakušan, these contacts were difficult to explain in the context of the Dosimeter case.
For many years, Hlubuček was an influential man within STAN. The true extent of Redl’s influence in STAN is unknown. His father donated 700,000 korunas (€28,000) to the party in 2016. In 2014, Redl’s associate Pavel Kos, who has also been accused in the Dosimeter case, donated 350,000 korunas (€14,000).
How much did Rakušan know?
Last week, Rakušan proclaimed that he knew nothing about Hlubuček’s activities. Yesterday, however, he changed his tune, writing on Twitter that he had no proof of Hlubuček’s illegal activities. Therefore, he only acted on a political level to weaken Hlubuček’s position within STAN.
Hlubuček’s activities were reported to Rakušan by then Prague Councilor for STAN Hana Kordová Marvanová, who sent him a detailed internal letter at the beginning of this year. In an interview with Seznam Zprávy, Kordová Marvanová claimed that Rakušan had ignored her warnings. She has since left STAN, partly because of this.
The opposition has called for Rakušan to resign. Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the leader of the ANO movement, has said that STAN is an organized crime group and that he is not surprised by the scandal. The Freedom and Direct Democracy leader Tomio Okamura made similar remarks:
“Today, the police arrested one of the highest politicians of the government’s STAN, Petr Hlubuček, and they also have the Minister of Education Petr Gazdík in sight. The government’s STAN is more like a mafia. Polčák, Farský, Michalik, Rakušan, Gazdík, Hlubuček… Why is Prime Minister Fiala silent? Is that the change?” Okamura posted on Twitter.
The new education minister
Rakušan wants to meet with possible candidates for the now vacant education minister post in the coming days and introduce the best candidate from STAN. STAN wants to introduce Gazdík’s successor first to the Pirates, with whom STAN ran for election last year, and then to other government partners.
“I refuse that we would have to look somewhere in external waters. We have many people in the STAN movement who have been professionally engaged in education for a long time. They really understand it, and can also manage that political function,” said Rakušan.
Maybe the Czech ruling party has some devilish public opinion poll that recommends keeping quiet, or they believe it is better to do nothing than ruin something. Otherwise, it is not quite possible to explain the passivity of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s government which is facing the highest inflation and cost of living crisis in the country’s modern history.
Of course, Fiala’s government did not bring about inflation. The current difficulties result from the paralysis of economic and social life brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic in every European country. In Czechia, however, inflation has reached some of its highest levels compared to other EU countries. The wasteful policy of Andrej Babiš, who bought social peace for 900 billion koruna thrown into the economy over two years, undoubtedly had a considerable impact. It is also a fact that Fiala’s government has not caused the Russian aggression in Ukraine, which is accelerating rising inflation. However, this is no excuse for incomprehensible political passivity on the domestic scene.
It is no secret that Fiala’s government did not arm itself with economic experts, instead it chose political figures to make up the cabinet. That is why it should be expected that in this relatively unprecedented economic situation, the prime minister — especially when he is not an economist himself — would establish the position of vice prime minister for economics. This vice prime minister would form an expert team and present a comprehensive economic program for difficult times. Of course, there are no miracle solutions. The government will eventually have to end up making cuts in the state budget, impose at least temporary tax increases, and will be unable to drive the inflationary spiral further by increasing benefits and wages.
Fiala is celebrating unquestionable successes in foreign policy. His government will have a European presidency, but the government must build trust domestically, as trust fuels the functioning of a healthy economy. The government must make it clear that it understands the situation, knows how to deal with it, and has a plan of action that will improve the country’s economic condition. We enjoyed the full power of political marketing under Andrej Babiš, but now we are going through the opposite extreme.
A corruption case involving a coalition partner
To make matters worse, one of the key parties in the governing coalition, the Mayors and Independents movement (STAN), is gradually coming apart. STAN has long succeeded in creating an image of a formation of competent mayors who know how to manage cities for the benefit of their citizens. Maybe most citizens need that, but many can also take care of themselves.
That STAN are primarily pragmatists, because to achieve the result, they must be able to negotiate with everyone. They are competent, but also omnipotent. The Pirates were first to feel that, as they joined the election coalition with STAN, and then just stared as the cunning Mayors erased them through organized ranked voting. One could guess a lot when the spiritual father and demiurge of the movement, the recently deceased Věslav Michalik, came out of the shadows. He could not resist the desire to play an active role. The information about the party’s covert funding emerged soon after.
Věslav Michalik was quite rich and made a lot of money without resorting to the 90s method of carrying cash in plastic bags. However, this is not the case with many other important officials of STAN. The raid on the Prague City Hall, after which the deputy mayor for STAN ended up in custody, is just another episode in the ongoing saga. The fall of the Minister of Education Petr Gazdík will not be the last of the highest political positions, and it is likely that the case will spread to other government parties as well.
This is not just a communal case and the failure of one individual, as Prime Minister Petr Fiala says in defense. Combined with the passivity to threatening inflation, which many may perceive as arrogance, it may soon be said, outside the circle of the Prague and Brno elites, that the new officials are stealing just as the ones before did and do not care for ordinary people.
A disturbing video of young people abusing a large carp for fun outside the Belgian city of Ghent has sparked outrage from web users, and led to reports of animal cruelty.
Belgium has experienced an intense heat wave in recent days, with many citizens escaping to lakes and streams to cool off. On Saturday, an estimated 10,000 people descended on Blaarmeersen, a recreational area not far from Ghent where a video shared on TikTok sparked outrage among social media users and drew police attention.
The video shows a group of laughing young people lifting a large carp and sliding it down a slide. Right now, it is still not known if these images were filmed on Friday or Saturday, but the police are trying to identify those responsible for this act which was described as “animal abuse” in a report.
On Saturday, a number of altercations and disorderly behavior led the police to shut down the recreation area at 3:30 p.m., La Dernière Heure reports.
According to the ACV police union, lifeguards had to take refuge in a nearby tower after being attacked by visitors when they decided to close one of the slides due to a lack of staff for supervision.
Numerous other incidents at swimming pools and lakes occurred in Europe over the weekend as temperatures broke records, including a massive migrant brawl at a swimming pool in Berlin and hundreds of people breaking into swimming pools in France, causing widespread damage and a large police response.
Just last week, Italian towns near Lake Garda experienced a “day of war” when 2,000 migrants descended on the area, beating people, robbing visitors, and sexually assaulting a number of teen girls.
Problems with crime, traffic, and even trash have put enormous pressure on residents of the troubled multicultural Guillotière neighborhood in the French city of Lyon; according to one community leader, many people are turning to antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication just to continue living in the area.
“People take sleeping pills, anxiolytics, antidepressants (…) the mental health of the inhabitants is impaired,” said Nathalie Balmat, the founding president of the association “the Angry Guillotière” which represents thousands of residents who are fed up with the neighborhood’s decay and crime. She notes that many residents have decided to leave.
“Before we were used to them attacking each other with a knife, we could move away (…) Now we are afraid of stray bullets,” Nathalie added.
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While interviewing Nathalie, the LyonMag noted that street vendors were trying to sell counterfeit cigarettes in the area, and the police tackled a suspect to the ground right at the Grande Rue de la Guillotière and arrested him. Nathalie is one of a number of citizens raising their voices about the ongoing crime wave in Lyon,
The multicultural neighborhood has made national and international headlines over the last year or so for its surge in crime, drug dealing, acts of violence, and general urban decay.
In all illustration of what residents face in the neighborhood, just yesterday, mass street brawls broke out between Algerian and Malians in a video widely shared on social media.
Shootings between rival gangs are also a major problem in Lyon, and although not directly in La Guillotière, the similarly troubled La Duchère area of Lyon saw a 16- and 20-year-old killed on June 14 in a gang battle, with two others wounded, according to Le Parisien. Video of automatic gunfire related to the incident was also posted online.
🔴URGENT ! À #Lyon – Deux personnes ont été tuées dans la nuit à #Lyon après une fusillade dans le quartier de La Duchère – pic.twitter.com/1kn5lRVBP2
On May 1, three men were injured in this area of Lyon from gunshots during a barbecue, with one of the attackers armed with a AK-47.
In April, police officers from the anti-crime brigade (BAC) were targeted there by projectiles, and in March, five minors were injured from gunfire at a point known for drug deals.
In October 2021, three police officers on patrol were shot in the same neighborhood, triggering a security operation.
Lyon ranks near the top in France for a range of crime categories, including placing third for assault and battery not directed at a family member and second for thefts without violence, just behind Paris. It is also second for unarmed violent robberies, third for vehicle thefts, and fifth for violent armed robberies. Many of these crimes are concentrated in the problematic areas of the city, such as the 7th arrondissement.
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Lyon has also been the site of several terrorist attacks, including the 2019 Lyon bombing, in which a bomb exploded outside a bakery, injuring 14 people. Mohamed M., who was later arrested for the attack, told investigators he had planted the bomb after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State. In the same year, an Afghan migrant stabbed nine people, killing one of them and wounding the other eight. The Muslim man said he heard voices that were insulting God in the run-up to the attack.
Much of the everyday violence in Lyon is perpetrated by migrants or people of a foreign background, but the French media does much to obscure such information. For example, in 2020, after a man in his 20s was stabbed and beaten to death with beer bottles, the news media — despite providing detailed information about the incident — was remarkably silent on reporting that the two suspects in the case were illegal immigrants.
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Lyon is also where 23-year-old Axelle Dorier was killed in a hit-and-run involving two migrants in 2020. She was dragged nearly 800 meters to her death in a case that shocked the French nation. The same year saw 12 “youths” set up an elaborate ambush for a police officer, brutally beating him so badly that he was forced into the intensive care unit of the hospital for eight days after suffering broken teeth, head trauma, and severe lacerations.
Quality-of-life issues also dominate
People are not turning to psychotropic drugs or fleeing these troubled neighborhoods simply because of crime either. Traffic and garbage are weighing on residents as well.
“This pedestrian crossing is dangerous,” one resident told LyonMag. “Worse, motorists honk more than before, and traffic jams are even worse.”
While the government has made moves to reduce traffic congestion, some efforts have been less successful. For example, authorities turning roads into pedestrian areas has angered some citizens and made finding parking more difficult. On top of that, efforts to place plants and frescoes in the new pedestrian zones have just led people to single out thees areas to dump their trash. They have also turned into open-air drug markets, with residents of Guillotière finding syringes among the wood shavings used in children’s playgrounds.
The issue of trash has long plagued Guillotière, but residents say it is getting worse. They point to overflowing trash cans, empty beer bottles, and shops turned into underground bars and drug dens.
The smell of urine dominates many areas.
“It’s overflowing, it stinks! It’s a disaster,” said Nathalie Balmat. “Some people here forbid their children to look out the window to avoid them seeing the often-exposed genitals of the users of these urinals.”
She is referring to the open-air urinals that have sprung up in France, with the controversial urinals allowing people to pee right on the street in front of pedestrians and children.
“The Angry Guillotière” has responded to these various social ills by filing a complaint against the city and the metropolis of Lyon with the administrative court. The organization made their first referral at the beginning of June.
New temperature records, fires, and bans on outdoor events are slamming the European continent after a historic heat wave arrived in the second half of last week. Temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius hit Czechia over the weekend, while parts of France, Austria, Germany, and Spain all posted record temperatures.
Experts describe the unusually scorching weather as a harbinger of the future.
Italy’s largest river, the Po, is so dry that warship wrecks are beginning to protrude from the water. In Catalonia, where thermometers showed up to 43 degrees Celsius last week, a large forest fire broke out again due to ongoing drought, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. In the French department of Gironde, where the city of Bordeaux lies, authorities have banned outdoor activities, as well as indoor activities in locations without air conditioning.
The heat wave hit Europe earlier this year as well. Instead of the summer months, it came in mid-June and was even more intense. In some areas of Spain and France, it was up to 15 degrees warmer than usual, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
“I’m 86 years old, I was born here, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse heat wave,” Jacqueline Bonnaud of Toulouse in the south of France told the BBC.
According to experts, the probability of extreme heat rising is due to climate change. A 2019 World Weather Attribution study found that heat waves commonly occur about every 30 years, but a hundred years ago, the temperature peaks were four degrees lower.
Climatologist Pavel Zahradníček from the Global Change Research Institute at the Czech Academy of Sciences also confirmed this to the Aktuálně.cz daily.
“In the Czech Republic, for example, tropical days start 18 days earlier than 60 years ago. At the same time, the last tropical days each year have been postponed by 12 days until September,” he says.
“Today, we are witnessing a harbinger of the future,” writes the World Meteorological Organization.
Townhouses as furnaces
Extremely warm weather can be a deadly problem for people who are infirm or have disabilities. For example, 15,000 people in France died in the heatwave of 2003.
The worst situation is in cities, which due to the lack of vegetation and method of construction, do not cool properly overnight, so high temperatures remain throughout the day.
“When these days and nights merge into a longer period, the health burden for the inhabitants increases and, unfortunately, our mortality rate also demonstrably increases,” adds Zahradníček.
High temperatures and lack of rain also threaten nature. The water evaporates from the soil faster, and the soil drought deepens. In the south of Spain, hundreds of birds have also died because of the current heat wave, leaving their nests built in concrete houses prematurely.
“(The nests) become furnaces, and birds that can’t fly yet are trying to get out because they can’t handle the temperature. They’re literally boiling,” said biologist Elena Moreno Portillo.
Adaptation is necessary
The World Meteorological Organization emphasizes the need for humans to adapt to warmer weather. It mentions, for example, an early warning system and the creation of action plans on how to manage heat waves. Retirement homes in France, for example, have special air-conditioned rooms with better ventilation where residents can take refuge during heatwaves.
Climatologist Pavel Zahradníček believes that in the Czech Republic, adaptation should primarily concern the urban environment where more green areas with access to running water should be created.
“Measures to address the root cause of climate change, the release of greenhouse gases, should be promoted at the government level. It is important that by 2050 temperatures have stopped increasing at such a rate so heatwaves become less common and more manageable,” he said.
Zahradníček also mentions that today, the number of hot days is three times greater than 60 years ago.
“On the other hand, this certainly does not mean that every summer will be warmer than the previous one. It is not at all impossible that average or below-average warm years will occur, but the long-term trend is clear,” he said.
Czechia’s Education Minister Petr Gazdík will resign from his ministerial position and as the vice-chair of the party Mayors and Independents (STAN) due to his ties to businessman Michal Redl, who has been accused of corruption in a far-reaching scandal involving dealings at the Prague Transport Company.
According to Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Civic Democrats (ODS), there is no reason for Interior Minister Vít Rakušan, the chairman of the STAN movement, to resign. According to the head of the opposition party, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), Tomio Okamura, the only solution is to exclude the entire STAN movement from government.
“I decided to resign as Minister of Education on June 30,” Gazdík wrote in a statement. “Even though I do not feel guilty of anything, not even on a factual let alone a criminal-legal level.
“However, my contacts with some people also cast a shadow over the STAN movement. I do not want to shake up the government or the coalition on the threshold of the EU presidency,” he added.
Fiala praised Gazdík’s resignation from the government, adding that he understood it as an expression of the change in political culture that the governing coalition wants to promote.
Corrupt activities at the Prague Transport Company
Michal Redl was accused, together with 12 others, of influencing contracts awarded by the city-owned Prague Transport Company and taking bribes, among a number of other allegations. The Prague Transport Company oversees public transport in the capital city and is its biggest employer.
Gazdík is not a suspect in the case, but according to the media, he met with Redl in a secure office. They also communicated via an encrypted telephone.
In an interview with the Právo daily on Friday, Gazdík admitted that he had been in contact with the accused Michal Redl despite learning that Redl had ties to the infamous crime boss Radovan Krejčíř. Gazdík believed that he was doing legitimate business. Gazdík also admitted that he and Redl may have been vacationing at the same hotel in an interview with Deník N.
Prime Minister Fiala spoke with Gazdík about his role in the corruption case over the weekend. Fiala stated that Gazdík assured him that he was not involved in anything. Nevertheless, less than 24 hours later, Gazdík announced his resignation.
“Yes, it was a mistake to associate with Michal Redl, or naivety, which is also a mistake for politicians,” Gazdík wrote in a press release published on STAN’s website. “That’s all I feel guilty about. Certainly not about participating in a criminal organization. I did not steal anything, I did not pass on any business to anyone.”
In connection with the case, Fiala sees no reason for Interior Minister Vít Rakušan, the chairman of the STAN movement, to resign.
“Rakušan has my trust. I see no reason for (his resignation),” said the prime minister.
The opposition wants Rakušan’s resignation
The opposition, on the other hand, has been calling for Rakušan’s resignation in recent days. Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said that Gazdík has skeletons in his closet, but he represents only one tendril of the criminal monster.
“The real head of the hydra is Mr. Rakušan, who covers up STAN’s organized crime from his position as interior minister,” Babiš said.
The head of the opposition party SPD, Tomio Okamura, also criticized Fiala, insisting the prime minister is fully responsible for his government and is sticking his head in the sand. Okamura called STAN a “political-business project” whose leaders have ties to organized crime and the mafia.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Minister for European Affairs Mikuláš Bek announced at a press conference on Wednesday what they intend to focus on during Chechia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, which begins next month. Their priorities will be coping with the refugee crisis and Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, energy security, the strengthening of defense capabilities, and cybersecurity.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine significantly influenced the priorities of the Czech presidency. After taking office last December, Bek spoke about dealing with the consequences of the coronavirus crisis, climate change policies, and addressing migration and security.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shaken many of our certainties. It has exposed the weaknesses of the security architecture in Europe, which we will have to grasp and, above all, actively develop, not just as observers relying on others,” Fiala said.
According to the prime minister, all pillars include the long-term strategic interests and priorities of the Czech Republic and the values that the Czech Republic has long held and is proud of.
“Together with our European partners, we will be at the forefront of the European Union within six months, working to be stronger together and to be able to use our strength to the benefit of those who need it,” Fiala said.
“Our unique historical experience with Russian occupation has taught us that we can face difficult moments, help each other, and stand up for what is right. After three years of preparations, we will undertake this task confidently and with an awareness of our responsibility for the results.”
According to the Czech government, the role of the Czech presidency will be different from that during its first tenure in 2009 before the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, but still important. The task of the ministers will mainly be to negotiate opinions on legislation at the meetings of the ministerial councils.
War presidency
In connection with Ukraine, Czechia will moderate the debate on greater flexibility in the use of money from the European budget, Bek said. According to Fiala, flexibility is currently increasing for programs already approved, but it is necessary to have a debate on additional money and new tools for managing the refugee wave in the most affected countries.
According to Bek, the Czech Republic will also deal with the European Commission’s proposal concerning media pluralism during its presidency, in addition to moderating the debate on the rule of law.
“We will also raise other issues in the field of the rule of law, such as the persecution of war crimes and the positive exchange of experiences in enforcing sanction mechanisms between European states,” the minister said.
According to Bek, the Czech Republic is sending a signal that it has long been an advocate of open trade relations with third countries that have similar values to Czechia. The search for alternative sources of raw materials for European industry is also a priority.
“We must offset the loss of opportunities in Russia by opening up new opportunities in other parts of the world,” Bek said.
Motto by Václav Havel
The motto of the Czech presidency of the European Council in the second half of this year is “Evropa jako úkol,” which reads in English, “Europe as a task: rethink, rebuild, repower.” The inspiration comes from a speech by former President Václav Havel, in Aachen in 1996, in which he reflected on the role of Europe in a changing world.
Such considerations are still relevant today. Even though there is not much time to think, it is necessary to act very quickly, said Bek during the presentation of the presidency’s priorities.
The Dark Side studio prepared the logo for Czechia’s presidency. It consists of 27 compass needles displayed in the national colors of the individual member states of the European Union.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala described the motto as apt, and according to him, Czechia is committed to the European task.
“A common Europe, its building, its creation, its good form, which serves the development of individual national societies, is our common task,” he stated.
In Fiala’s view, the Russian aggression in Ukraine has shown that security, freedom, and democracy are fragile values that must be defended against aggressors.
“Democracy is a daily task, the fight for freedom is a daily task,” he added.
The cost of housing in the Czech capital of Prague continues to soar higher, with a new 70-square-meter apartment in Prague costing the equivalent of 17 years worth of average wages, costing 2.4 years more than last year.
The data comes from the housing affordability index, created by the CG-Index created by the developer Central Group. Throughout Czechia, people need to save the equivalent of more than 15 annual wages to acquire an apartment.
Based on this data, Czechs are facing the most expensive real estate in market relative to their wages, according to analysts at Česká spořitelna and the “Evropa v datech” web portal. Representatives of both indexes stated this at press conferences on Tuesday.
The CG-Index, which works with data from the Ministry of Labor’s Average Earnings Information System, calculates an average gross monthly wage in the metropolis of 50,363 korunas (€2,035) and a new apartment price of 10.4 million korunas (€420,000). It follows that a total of 17.3 annual wages are necessary for a new apartment. Five years ago, the number of annual wages was 12.7.
Of course, for most Czechs, their entire wage is not going into purchasing a house, as they have other costs, such as food and energy, which means buying a house or apartment is increasingly out of reach for most citizens, a trend seen across the West. Rising mortgage rates have yet to put a damper on prices, although that could change in the near future. Nevertheless, rising rates also translates to more unaffordable mortgages.
Large uncertainty
According to the founder and head of Central Group Dušan Kunovský, there is a large amount of uncertainty in the construction market. Many factors are at play, including rising inflation for building materials and energy prices.
Kunovský recalled the uncertainty about the construction law, which was approved last year by the government of Andrej Babiš. The new cabinet of Petr Fiala enforced the postponement of the main parts of the law and is preparing an amendment.
In Berlin, Vienna, and Warsaw, citizens can afford a new apartment with the equivalent of nine years worth of salary. In Bratislava, the number reaches 15 years.
Like in Ivory Coast
According to the Czech Prosperity Index, it takes an average of 246 days to obtain a building permit in the Czech Republic. That is on par with Côte d’Ivoire.
Meanwhile, in Denmark and Finland, it takes just over two months. Kunovský said that 134,000 new apartments are being prepared in Prague, but only around 3,000 will be completed annually.
“Due to the deficit from previous years, Prague needs to build at least 10,000 to 15,000 new apartments a year,” Kunovský said.
According to the chief economist of Česká spořitelna, David Navrátil, the biggest problem is building regulations; construction delays occur when a zoning decision is processing.
“Abroad, the agreement with the municipalities happens relatively fast because it’s clear what the municipality will get out of the process. The incorrectly set distribution of taxes is demotivating in our country,” said Navrátil.
According to Central Group estimates, the value of all apartments in preparation in Prague is currently 1.4 trillion korunas (€56.5 billion), and the state would receive more than 180 billion korunas (€7.3 billion) in VAT on them.
Ukraine must not be left out of the negotiations on ending the war, and the Czech Republic will work to ensure this, said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský during Czech political talk show Partie Terezie Tománkové.
Lipavský said he was reacting to the efforts of some Western European politicians to negotiate an end to the fighting in Ukraine without Ukraine sitting at the negotiating table.
According to the Czech foreign minister, the Czech presidency itself will not have any impact on negotiations with the Russian Federation in the second half of the year, but the Czech Republic will raise the issue of Ukraine’s support in EU negotiations.
“We will emphasize that Europe will not forget Ukraine,” said Lipavský who warned that Ukraine cannot be allowed to end up like Czechoslovakia in 1938. Back then, the state lost part of its territory in favor of Nazi Germany as a part of the Munich Agreement even though Czechoslovakia was not permitted to participate in the discussions that partitioned the country.
“Diplomatic negotiations must be conducted primarily by the Ukrainians themselves. We must keep the Ukrainians in the game,” the minister added. According to Kyiv, it makes no sense to negotiate until Russian forces withdraw from their territory.
The Czech Republic could play an elevated role in the coming months over the future of Ukraine, as the country will assume the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, and Czechia has already indicated that Ukraine will be a priority during its term.
“Macron does not understand”
Lipavský rejected French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement in early June that Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, must not be humiliated.
“Russia is an aggressor. We should not consider any humiliation or non-humiliation. Macron probably doesn’t understand the issue very well, Putin doesn’t care how the West perceives Russia,” the minister said.
His debate partner on Czech television, Jaroslav Bžoch, who is the vice-chairman of the parliamentary committees of foreign and European affairs, also called Macron’s repeated statement a mistake.
According to Bžoch, the former Czech prime minister was expressing concern that the supplies would jeopardize the Czech Republic’s and NATO’s defenses. Lipavský argued that arms supplies to Ukraine support the security of the Czech Republic in relation to Russia’s expansionary intentions.
“We can have the weapons in the warehouse here, or they can help in Ukraine,” the minister said. He, however, agreed with Bžoch that larger European Union countries, such as Germany, could be more active in arms deliveries.
Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has spoken out against arms supplies to Ukraine, arguing that the Czech army is in poor shape and that Ukraine has already managed to defend against Russia occupying the country’s entire territory. The politician, who is considering running for president, said that other countries should contribute with weapons aid instead of Czechia.
“I do not think we should continue to supply weapons. We supplied weapons, and we stopped Putin. He wanted to occupy the whole of Ukraine, thankfully he failed. And now, I think that Europe is helping Ukraine. Many countries are helping there. We have already delivered €3.5 billion [in aid], and our army is not in great condition either,” said the former prime minister and head of the ANO party at a meeting with people in Terezín, according to Respekt weekly.
The war is not over
One-fifth of Ukrainian territory and a large part of the civilian population now live under Russian occupation. It is impossible to determine whether war crimes are taking place in the occupation zone either.
Ukrainians also point out that the weapons deliveries have been insufficient. The Russians have stopped pursuing large-scale air and tank attacks, which Ukrainians have effectively fought off using light weapons. The battle in the Donbas is now in a critical phase in which artillery plays a major role. In virtually every conversation, Ukrainian officials emphasize that weapons are still needed.
Due to the amount of aid provided, the Czech Republic is one of Ukraine’s largest supporters. Czechia supplied Ukraine with many weapons from its mobilization reserves, including tanks, rocket launchers, artillery ammunition, and likely helicopters, although that last item has not been officially announced.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala was received by Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday, with their meeting focusing on the current war in Ukraine. During their talk, the head of the Catholic Church praised Czechia’s support for Ukraine in its ongoing struggle against Russia.
During the meeting, which lasted an hour, Czechia’s prime minister also invited the pope to visit the Czech Republic in the near future.
“I had a wonderful experience. The audience with Pope Francis was a great honor for me,” Fiala wrote on Twitter after the meeting. “I very much appreciate the pope’s moral attitude and support for human rights, freedom of religion, and support for the oppressed,” he added.
“The pope has expressed great support for the Ukrainian people and their fair struggle. I think it is important for us to think about the suffering of Ukrainians and help them with all the means we have,” the Czech prime minister said in the Vatican. According to him, the pope “is aware of the injustice of Russian aggression.”
Fiala, who also brought the pope a Ukrainian embroidered scarf with a dove of peace as a gift, recalled all the support which Czechia has and continues to provide to Ukraine in the humanitarian and military fields.
The prime minister also said he enjoyed the chance to have an audience with the pope from the perspective of a believer in the faith.
“I had the opportunity to talk to the Holy Father about my religious experiences and journey. We talked about my experience with the hidden church, the underground church structures during the communist era, and living Christianity. The pope was very interested in it,” Fiala said.
The entire Czech delegation, including Deputy Prime Minister Marian Jurečka and ODS Parliamentary Group Chairman Marek Benda, received a blessing at the end of the meeting. Following his audience with the pope, the Czech prime minister held talks with Vatican Secretary of State Pier Parolin. The main topic of conversation was Ukraine, but also the mutual relations between the Czech Republic and the Vatican.
The relations between Czechia and Vatican are good
“There has also been a desire to consolidate and further expand cooperation,” the Vatican said, with Fiala stating that the pope’s proposed visit to Ukraine, currently under consideration, would be important.
“In my opinion, the pope’s wish is to go to Ukraine, but there must be conditions for it, including his health,” Fiala said.
The Czech prime minister ended his visit to Rome and the Vatican at the Czech Papal College Nepomucenum. He spoke there with Czech compatriots and church leaders in the Vatican.
The last Czech prime minister to have the opportunity to speak in person with the pope was Bohuslav Sobotka in 2017. At that time, Francis received EU leaders who had been meeting for a summit in Rome.
With legislation in the works to legalize same-sex marriage in Czechia, Czech President Miloš Zeman has already warned he would veto any such bill.
From a linguistic point of view, the word marriage allegedly implies a union between a man and a woman, the Czech president told reporters after holding talks with Hungarian President Katalin Novák. Zeman added that he would instead support a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, which is how Hungary’s constitution currently defines marriage.
“The subject of the current debate is, among other things, the bill on same-sex marriage. If I get such a law on the table, I will veto it,” the president announced.
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Czechia’s parliament has not yet approved such a law, but a number of politicians are working on passing one this year.
Zeman justified his position by appealing to the Czech language.
“Besides, the word ‘rodina’ (family) comes from the word ‘rodit’ (to give birth). And so far, I have not noticed that children are born to same-sex couples,” Zeman added.
According to him, same-sex couples currently have all the benefits of a registered partnership.
“But family is the union of a man and a woman,” he emphasized.
The Chamber of Deputies received an amendment to the civil code, which would allow same-sex couples to marry. It was signed by deputies from STAN, TOP 09, Pirates, ODS, and the ANO movement. As expected, no signatures came from the Christian Democrats or SPD.
Pekarová: Zeman’s opinion is not significant
The head of the Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09), who also signed the proposal, said that the president’s words were not very important.
“Negotiating the amendment will probably continue beyond the end of his mandate,” she said.
Zeman will end his term in office at the beginning of March next year. For him to apply the veto, the law would have to pass both the House and the Senate by then.
The House of Commons generally leaves its deputies free to vote on such matters. In the last election period, the Chamber of Deputies did not decide on the enactment of marriage for homosexuals either.
According to the draft, same-sex spouses would have the same rights and obligations as heterosexual spouses.
These include the creation of joint property, the right to a widow’s and widower’s pension, the rights and obligations related to the children they bring up, and access to alternative family care.
“Marriage for same-sex couples is not an unexplored step in which we do not know what it will bring. The experience from abroad speaks quite clearly — no negative effects on society have been proven,” the authors of the law stated in their reasoning.
At Germany’s match with England on Tuesday, the German team not only kneeled for Black Lives Matter, but also wore the women’s jersey of the German national football team.
The move comes shortly after England’s team was booed by young Hungarian fans for kneeling during a match in Budapest that England lost 1-0.
The German football team said they made the gesture of wearing women’s jerseys during the match in order to advertise the upcoming European Women’s Championship in England,
The spokeswoman for the German women, Annette Seitz, praised the move.
“This is a little greeting from our men’s team to all of us that we support each other,” she explained.
Both the German men and their English opponents kneeled on the field before kick-off in Munich, saying they wanted to send a message against racism. Both teams had also kneeled in a similar manner at last year’s European Championship, according to the news outlet Junge Freiheit.
“We are two nations with many people from different countries. That’s an important sign,” said the English manager Gareth Southgate during a press conference.
At the same time, Southgate praised the German national team for their support for the LGBTQ community when they played in Hungary last year. During that match, German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer wore a captain’s armband in rainbow colors, a symbol for sexual minorities.
Now, the issue has once again come to the forefront after England played the Hungarian national team in Budapest last weekend and lost 1-0, with young home fans booing the English for kneeling.
Hungary Vs England
Fans were booing "taking the knee" – they're sick of the SJW politicizing of the sport pic.twitter.com/CZ9QcaXxWl
Hungary, a country known for its conservative family and social policies, has taken a stand against LGBTQ ideology being taught in the classroom, while at the same time, Germany increasingly promotes gender transitioning to young children through a range of programs broadcast by public media. Hungary’s conservative stance on the issue has drawn the ire of Western European liberals and the left-leaning European Union, with Brussels threatening to cut EU funds to the country.
Last year, when the controversy first arose, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said pressure on athletes to kneel was a “provocation,” and he condemned the English team for kneeling.
“If you’re a guest in a country, then understand its culture and do not provoke it,” Orbán said. “Do not provoke the host… We can only see this gesture from our cultural vantage point as unintelligible, as a provocation.”
“The fans reacted the way those who are provoked usually react to provocation. They do not always choose the most elegant form [of reaction], but we have to understand their reasons… I agree with the fans.”
After the latest incident in Budapest this week, Hungarian Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations Zoltan Kovacs defended the booing by Budapest fans on Twitter.
Anyone who thinks that children attending a football match in Budapest can be blamed for any kind of political statement is truly an idiot.
The division of Czechoslovakia 30 years ago after the fall of communism was the right decision and an inevitable step, said Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala during a debate with Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger on Monday in Prague.
Fiala said that any efforts designed to keep Czechia and Slovakia together as one nation state would have only caused further tensions and disagreements.
“Maybe it would have disintegrated later under worse conditions,” Fiala said.
In connection with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, Heger and Fiala spoke on Monday of a miracle in which the two new states peacefully parted ways and respected each other, with their representatives maintaining above-standard relations.
“We managed to maintain a strong bond, the friendship did not disappear,” Heger said before informally inviting dozens of Slovak students in the audience to return to their homeland after they attend university in Czechia.
According to Heger, Slovakia experienced a difficult time after the division before the nation “stood on its own two feet.” The country was probably not so well prepared, but history has shown that it was the right decision.
According to Fiala, two-nation federations are hardly ever workable, especially when one nation is twice as large. He appreciated that the Czech political representation in 1992 accepted the reality that Slovaks wanted to fulfill their right to self-determination. The peaceful division of the state required generosity on both sides.
“Slovakia did not have exaggerated demands, and the Czech Republic did not insist on nonsense,” said Fiala.
The war against Ukraine further cements the bond
The shared position of the governments after the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine also reflects the permanent ties between the two states. According to the prime ministers, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are opposed to evil, no discussion needed.
“We know what to do, we do not doubt that,” said Fiala.
Since the war broke out, Czechia and Slovakia have provided aid to Ukraine and also to Ukrainians who fled West. If Europe continues to help Ukraine, it is realistic that Ukrainians will achieve their goals, which is to win the conflict, Heger said. According to him, it is necessary to show Russia the strength of the democratic world.
In Fiala’s view, politicians should not only be realists but also idealists and decide according to what is right and what is not.
“That’s why I say that what I want is for Ukraine to win. Only that makes sense and only that is right. Let’s do everything we can for Ukraine to win,” said Fiala.
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy published a ranking of countries helping Ukraine financially after Russia’s invasion four months ago, including with both material and humanitarian aid. As expected, Ukraine’s biggest supporter has been the United States, while Estonia, Poland, and Latvia have contributed the most per capita.
The current study covers 37 countries and shows government commitments, private donations, and military or technical assistance. Statistics show, for example, that Czechia helps in terms of per capita aid as much as France.
The biggest supporter of Ukraine is the United States: The U.S. has almost tripled its public commitments since the end of April, with the country providing aid worth a total of €43 billion.
“The U.S. government is willing to mobilize significant resources to support Ukraine. This also highlights the importance of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which threatens the stability of the whole of Europe,” says the research director of the institute, Christoph Trebesch.
According to an analysis called Ukraine Support Tracker, aid from European nations is coming more slowly. Nevertheless, the commitment of Eastern European countries such as Poland and Estonia is quite admirable because both nations also feature high costs associated with Ukrainian refugees.
EU countries and institutions have pledged €16 billion, barely a third of what the U.S. has pledged. This big discrepancy is quite surprising, as one would expect the EU to provide at least as much help as the U.S. to its neighbor.
Czech help is on the same level with that of much larger France
Estonia, Latvia, and Poland ranked just behind the U.S. among Ukraine’s largest supporters, relative to their GDP performance. Czechia ranked 12th out of a total of 37 countries, with domestic aid comparable to that of France, a country that is seven times larger.
At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron recently made it known that he wants to increase financial and military aid to Ukraine. He also reiterated the unpopular view that Russia did not need to be humiliated and that “a way out via diplomatic channels” would be needed when the fighting was over.
The analysis also provides rough estimates of government support for refugees.
“Some countries point to the high cost of receiving refugees from Ukraine. These expenditures are difficult to measure and compare internationally. Nevertheless, we are trying to do so based on rough estimates, according to which the biggest burdens are borne by Poland, Romania, and Hungary. The cost of refugees in Poland alone could range between €2 billion and €6 billion over the period we are considering. Assuming a subsidy of €500 per month per refugee, Poland is the second-largest supporter of Ukraine in absolute numbers after the United States,” concludes Trebesch.
On Thursday, June 2, Prague got a good glimpse of existence without energy after a blackout lasting less than an hour hit the capital city. The situation reminded many people that with the current European energy policy, the question is not whether there will be a blackout but rather when it will come, writes Markéta Šichtařová for the Echo24 daily.
We know that renewable energy sources are less stable than conventional sources. It is still impossible to fully replace a unit of power from an old source of energy with the same unit of power from a renewable source. However, Europe is switching off old sources faster than installing new capacities. Also, there is a lack of classic energy resources, not only because of political reasons and the green agenda but also due to the war. Furthermore, Czechia’s electrical transmission system is not designed for such a sharp increase in renewables.
In the event of a longer outage, we cannot test what will not work — when the backup batteries in many devices run out, more than just electricity will stop working. We will be unable to refuel, and if you have a private generator, you will not be able to get fuel into it. The mobile phone network will fail, and Czechs will not be able to call anyone, even if they managed to charge their phones. Both credit cards and ATMs will stop working, so no shopping, and of course, the internet will also not function.
Cigarettes and condoms become Czechia’s currency
There are some minimal precautions you can take for such a scenario: Have some extra cash on hand, a supply of food that does not need to be cooked, a lighter, and a full canister of gas. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we have even seen a trend develop where people are preparing currency substitutes in the form of tiny gold bars. When asked about what is fueling such demand, they answer that they do not trust any fiat currency and want to have something to pay “for bread.” It is a somewhat naïve idea, considering that in the case of a real blackout, no bakery will have the capacity to even bake bread.
However, previous catastrophic, extreme and unlikely scenarios provide a road map for the future. We know what happened, for example, during the bombing of Serbia or the economic crisis in Venezuela. In the first case, there was a disruption of the infrastructure, and in the second, we saw a collapse of the fiat currency. If you guessed that gold or cash dollars work great in such situations, you are right, but only partially. You can use both on the black market that will immediately emerge. The problem is that real physical shortages of dollars and gold eventually develop within these chaotic economies, and in the end, cigarettes and condoms become the most utilized forms of currency.
Shortly after mass rioting broke out during the Liverpool-Real Madrid Champions League match at the Stade de France in the troubled multicultural neighborhood of Saint-Denis, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin rapidly tried to place the blame for the assaults and robberies on English fans from LIverpool.
The problem for France’s interior minister is that it appears the French are simply not buying his explanation.
According to an Odoxa Backbone Consulting poll conducted for Le Figaro, 76 percent of French people remain unconvinced by Gérald Darmanin’s explanations of the riots that broke out on Saturday. In fact, the same poll shows that 61 percent of respondents instead blame “youths” from “troubled neighborhoods” in the area.
Many of these French may have seen footage from the incident, in which scenes of chaos marred the pre-match, with English and Spanish fans facing mass attacks and robberies by primarily African and Middle Eastern youths from the surrounding neighborhood. One victim speaking on CNews described what he and his family went through:
“They attacked me. There were hundreds of ‘youngsters,’ or men, they were all men… They attacked me, and took my four tickets. They had cost me €6,000, but it didn’t matter anymore, we were scared for ourselves and for our children… At the exit, it was even worse. There were even more assailants. They tried to steal my wife’s bag. The attackers were watching my children cry, and they were laughing. They found our fear amusing.”
Other English fans described being hit with bottles, stabbed, and slashed by large groups of youths who stole their wallets, watches and other belongings. Many fans were stranded outside the stadium due to ticketing problems, which delayed kick-off by more than 30 minutes. However, others were targeted later in the night when they tried to leave the stadium.
— Fdesouche.com est une revue de presse (@F_Desouche) May 29, 2022
The French interior minister pointed to the “thousands of British ‘supporters’ without tickets or with fake tickets” who had “forced” their way in. Darmanin then estimated their number at “30,000 to 40,000,” a far cry from the 2,800 “scanned fake tickets” identified by the French Football Federation and UEFA. With the scandal marring not only Darmanin, but also his boss, Emmanuel Macron, the minister is facing significant pressure to explain the discrepancy. Nevertheless, he repeated this same line of defense on Wednesday during his hearing by the Senate law commission.
Supporters of Reconquête are those who most disapprove of the interior minister’s explanations (88 percent), according to the poll. Supporters of France Unbowed (82 percent), the National Rally (77 percent), and the Greens (77 percent) follow behind.
While “youths” were the most blamed for the chaos, other people and organizations also faced criticism; respondents found fault with the organization behind the Stade de France (51 percent), the police headquarters (44 percent), and the UEFA (41 percent). Although the vast majority of French do not believe Darmanin’s explanation for what occurred at the stadium, only 40 percent actually blame him for what transpired.
Macron, who has taken care to distance himself from this affair as the legislative elections approach, follows at 27 percent.
A bad image of France
Regarding the police, a narrow majority believes they were ill-prepared for the riots, with 28 percent of respondents saying the police forces are generally not repressive enough, and 11 percent saying that they are too repressive. On Wednesday, Darmanin apologized for “the disproportionate use of tear gas” on fans outside the stadium.
For more than one in two French people (53 percent), the chaos outside the stadium shows that France is ill-prepared to host the Rugby World Cup next year and the Olympic Games in 2024. For 46 percent, France will learn a lesson from this match and will be able to host these future sporting events without a problem. Nevertheless, most French people judge what happened around the Stade de France harshly. Nine out of ten respondents think the incident offers up a bad image of France to the rest of the world, and 90 percent believe it spoiled the Champions League final.
More surveillance, more resources against “disinformation” and less free speech were the themes of the Wednesday conference of interior ministers from Germany’s federal and state governments.
“We need more measures against misleading and demonstrably false information,” said Bavarian Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrmann, of the Christian Socialist Union, who is taking over the presidency.
Herrmann demanded that users should only be allowed to use their real names on social networks, effectively ending anonymity. He demanded that social media and web providers should be forced to verify the authenticity of the identity of their users. In addition, a paper produced by the interior ministers requires them to provide a “decrypted dump” of content in the event of an investigation against subjects.
“We need action, especially concerning anonymous distribution,” Herrmann added.
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The calls to end anonymity on the internet come despite Germany’s troubled past, in which members of the German resistance, including the White Rose, wrote anti-Nazi pamphlets under a pen name before they were caught and executed towards the end of the war. In East Germany and other communist-era nations, which featured surveillance capabilities that pale in comparison to modern Germany, opposition and pro-democracy activists actively published anonymous, illegal texts known as samizdat. Although hunted down and arrested at the time, these writers and dissidents are now seen as “freedom fighters” and praised by many of the same current political leaders and journalists pushing for mass censorship and surveillance.
“Hate crimes on the Internet pose a great danger to peaceful coexistence in a free, open, and democratic society,” said Nancy Faeser (SPD), Germany’s current federal interior minister. To combat these hate crimes, data retention is also necessary, she added.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser listens to a statement at the end of her visit to the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)
As Remix News has previously reported, the far-left Faeser is leading a campaign against “far-right extremism,” arguing this fight should already begin in kindergarten. Despite evidence showing left-wing violence is a larger threat, she claims right-wing elements are actually the biggest threat to the German state. She has been criticized for writing in the far-left Antifa magazine, which was funded by a designated extremist organization, shortly before coming to power, but that has done little to rein in her agenda. She instead has put forth a 10-point plan to fight “right-wing extremism” which in many ways appears to be a blanket effort to target any conservative thought or dissent.
What disinformation actually remains is very unclear, but much of the focus appears to be on combating “hate speech” on the web; this could cover illegal hate symbols such as the swastika, but could also include legitimate dissent and criticism of government policy, including on topics related to religion, abortion, LGBT issues, and coronavirus policy. As Remix News previously reported, “hate speech” is a tenuous concept in many cases and increasingly applied to a wide range of conservative beliefs:
The reality is that this law will most surely be abused if the past is any guide. Take, for instance, the recent case of Berlin’s left-wing mayor, Michael Müller, of the Social Democrat party (SPD), who ordered a police raid on a Facebook user for posting an immigration-critical photo that targeted Müller:
The case dates back to April 14, 2019, when a Facebook user under the name of “Karina Fitza” shared a doctored photo of Mayor Michael Müller, which suggested he wanted to relocate all of the migrants who’ve been picked up by NGO ships to Berlin.
The shared image, which the woman had discovered earlier on Twitter, clearly offended the Social Democratic mayor, prompting him to contact Berlin’s Chief Prosecutor Jöorg Raupach and demand that criminal action be taken against the social media user. Earlier this month, the letter sent to Raupach from Müller — titled “Criminal complaint by the superior” — was made public in a report published by the German newspaper Die Welt.
After determining Karina Fitza’s real identity, the public prosecutor’s office easily obtained a warrant from a district judge to search the woman’s home. On the morning of Feb. 20, 2020, at 6 a.m., five officers from the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) conducted a raid on the woman’s apartment and seized two mobile telephones and two tablets. According to a report from Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg 24, the woman now suffers from a sleep disorder as a result of the trauma she was forced to experience on the day of the early morning raid.
In a country gearing up new plans to accept hundreds of thousands of new immigrants every year, are those who reject such a society-altering plan and create content protesting it on social media about to be charged criminally, or even worse, have their houses raided?
Nevertheless, several draft resolutions prepared during the interior ministers’ conference on Wednesday will deal with hate speech on the internet, with Bavaria’s interior minister stating that anyone who becomes radicalized must be identified early through “extensive, electronically supported information gathering” — in other words, mass surveillance.
Germany’s left-wing government, with the aid of the country’s state interior ministers, are also looking to increasingly criminalize “misinformation.”
“The deliberate and targeted spreading of lies to divide and spread hatred is not an expression of opinion worthy of protection,” Herrmann argued to justify the procedure. “Misleading and false information endangers our democracy.”
In his view, the targeted dissemination of disinformation should be punishable under certain conditions. That also applies to comparable facts such as incitement to hatred or the approval of a war of aggression, which would likely apply to anyone who takes Russia’s side in the conflict in Ukraine.
However, the Bavarian interior minister’s plans and the rest of the government may come into conflict with Germany’s constitution and current case law as it stands in the Federal Constitutional Court, which expressly places false information under the protection of freedom of expression.
On Wednesday, the Slovak government decided that the country would donate military equipment worth €21.6 million to Ukraine, according to an announcement from Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď. However, the minister did not specify the form of assistance or any equipment.
The defense minister emphasized that the military material came from the warehouse of the Slovak army.
According to Naď, sending the military supplies will help Ukraine without harming Slovakia’s defense readiness. “We are cooperating very intensively with Ukraine and trying to find solutions to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Together with the chief of the general staff, we have put together military material worth approximately €21.6 million.”
Slovakia also wants to sell the Zuzana self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, which Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová confirmed while visiting Kyiv on Tuesday.
More than 750,000 people have joined the national gun registry and have obtained a so-called “small firearm license,” in Germany, as ownership of firearms becomes ever more popular in the country.
However, it is important to note that gun restrictions remain stringent in Germany, and a “small firearm license” does not allow individuals to buy a pistol or sidearm that can shoot real bullets. Instead, individuals with this specific license can carry gas pistols that can shoot blanks or irritants as well as flare guns.
As of April 30, 756,619 people were registered to own a small firearm, with 16,581 people having already joined this year alone, according to Zeit Online. Last year, this number already increased by 34,532.
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Despite the non-lethal nature of these “small firearms,” left-wing parties are eyeing the steady increase of such weapons warily. Gun ownership, at least in the United States, is highly associated with voting patterns that support the conservative political candidates. If gun ownership were to become more popular in Germany, parties like the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) could theoretically benefit.
“We take that very seriously. The security authorities are very vigilant,” the domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Dirk Wiese, told the Rheinische Post.
Despite the already strict German weapons law, Wiese said that a close look must be taken “to make legislative adjustments if necessary,” and then demanding the use of existing control options need to be applied more stringently.
When asked to attribute a reason for the significant increase in those on the register, Wiese could only guess whether there was a connection with the Ukraine war, as applicants are not required to state their motive for requesting such a license.
However, the conflict in Ukraine may have little to do with the increase. For one, “small firearms” are unlikely to be effective against a Russian invasion, and furthermore, the number of people applying for such a license was already rapidly increasing before the conflict in Ukraine. In general, such small firearms are seen as a non-lethal weapon for personal self defense.
The greatest increase was seen in 2016, the same year as the migrant crisis in Germany broke out, which saw a whopping 470,000 Germans receive a small firearm license in just one year. In some areas of Germany, serious crimes such as rape are increasing, and statistics also show that foreigners are committing a highly disproportionate amount of crimes, including serious assaults, murder and sexual violence. As Remix News reported, gang rapes in Germany have more than doubled to 677 in 2021 compared to three years ago in 2018.
The small gun license was introduced with an amendment to the Weapons Act in 2003 and has enjoyed growing popularity ever since. The small gun license is not to be confused with the gun ownership license, which hunters, marksmen, and collectors have and entitles them to own rifles and pistols.
Czech volunteer fighters remain approximately 800 to 1,000 meters from Russian forces in the region of Kharkiv, and face constant shelling from the enemy. Ján Husár, a correspondent for Novinky.cz news outlet in Ukraine, visited them and reported on the situation they face. Their exact position and names cannot be stated for security reasons.
His report detailed how the ongoing conflict had cruelly affected the village where many Czechs are located, just like many others in eastern Ukraine. There are few civilians left, and most human activity takes place in the damp basements located in the area. The advanced operational base was established there by the volunteer battalion, Karpatská Sič, in whose ranks a group of ten Czechs is also fighting.
One of the rooms has been a home for Czech soldiers for several weeks; dirty, musty, but they are safe from enemy shelling. Soldiers come here to rest when they return from their positions to guard.
“We came to help Ukraine. We didn’t like what was going on here,” said Petr, a 35-year-old volunteer. He served in the Czech army for a short while but had no combat experience before arriving in Ukraine. Despite the war, he said he categorically refuses to hold anything personal against the Russians.
Petr did not wait for the permission of the Czech authorities. “I sent a request to the Ministry of Defense and the Castle, but no one commented. So I got together and left. Now (President) Zeman has allowed it to 103 people, I don’t know if it applies to me,” Petr said.
“It is about the political situation,” he explained. “The fact that women and children are being shot here is terrible. I couldn’t watch it.”
The soldiers are not so worried about the enemy as much as they are worried about running out of ammunition and water. They save both, and they can completely forget about bothering with a shower. They go to the toilet in another of the rooms, where they bury everything in the sand.
The Russians are not so incompetent
The main task of the volunteers is to guard the Russian position in cooperation with the Ukrainian army. The Czechs thus experience Russian shelling every day; even during the conversation, there was a dark rumble of falling artillery.
“Probably Grad,” said Peter calmly. In the basement, everyone is relatively safe.
“The worst was when they started shelling us with a grenade launcher on the road. We went to the position to take the camera and at that moment they found us with a drone. It started flying all around us. There is nothing one can do. You just lie and wonder if you will survive. That was the worst day so far,” Petr continued.
“They are not as incompetent as people sometimes claim them to be. It’s more a question of who they send here, whether it is a professional or not,” he said.
The Russians shell the positions with everything they have, including banned phosphorus munitions.
“It looks like New Year’s fireworks,” said Petr, but up close, it is an extremely insidious weapon which causes chemical burns that reach the bone and heal very badly.
Petr does not know what he will do when the war is over, and he is not even thinking about it.
“We’ll see when it’s over,” he said, but plans to stay until the end.
Rakušan, who is also the country’s deputy prime minister, also revealed that a similar figure was still arriving in the country on a daily basis, and explained around half of the 50,000 that have departed the Czech Republic actually went home to Ukraine, with others traveling on to other countries, mostly Germany.
The Czech interior minister stated that 80-85 percent of refugees have stayed in Czechia while the numbers of arrivals and exits are balanced. It is, however, hard to ascertain an exact number of people leaving because the Czech Republic does not lie on the external Schengen border.
“If we now have the idea that 75-80 percent of people are in their places, then this is quite telling. We need to know the conditions of those who want to go to school. That is the most important thing,” commented Rakušan on the issue of obtaining more precise data. “When enrolling in schools, we want to collect additional data, use it to maximize data collection, which will probably be the most decisive moment,” he added.
Improved cooperation with Hungary
Rakušan expressed his hope that the European Commission will activate the registration system it promised, and vowed to meet with EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson.
The Czech deputy prime minister also said that the cooperation with Hungary concerning Roma refugees with dual citizenship has improved; about a third of these refugees have proven to be dual citizens of Ukraine and Hungary, and as such, they have no claim to temporary protection. They are, however, EU citizens — they cannot be deported or otherwise moved, but they have no claim to social benefits either. Rakušan stated that the ministry is trying to inform these people of this fact.
A 46-year-old woman and two young men are in custody as suspects in the murder of a family member in the Stockholm municipality of Nacka. The suspects are Ethiopian citizens, and the police suspect they were involved in an honor killing.
According to previous media reports, the suspects are family members of a deceased teenage girl found dead in her home in Nacka on Thursday. Family members told police that the girl had taken her own life, but police quickly became suspicious and arrested three family members on suspicion of murder.
Reports show the police suspected the family had arranged the suicide to hide a murder after the stories of the family members failed to add up, Swedish news outlet Nyheter Idag reports.
[pp id=35929]
The suspects provided differing statements to the police, and also attempted to hide the victim’s mobile phone and objects used in the alleged suicide.
Police suspect that the motive in the alleged murder was that the girl was hanging out with friends after school, which upset other members of the family. The victim’s school expressed concern for the girl, which was reinforced by the fact that she was reported sick on Thursday.
A forensic pathologist has also found that the girl’s injuries do not correspond with injuries sustained in a suicide.
[pp id=16897]
All suspects deny any wrongdoing.
Honor killings and other honor-related crimes have plagued Sweden in recent years due to mass immigration from “honor societies.” In an example of the violence displayed in some such cases, an Afghan man and his two sons stabbed another man 90 times to “preserve honor.”
In September 2019, the Swedish Police Authority began specifically tracking honor-related crimes, and by November 2021, 4,500 suspected honor-related crimes had been registered in the country’s database.
[pp id=22271]
Honor-related crimes are characterized as organized, and often involve more than one family member. They are not limited to honor killings either, but also include forced marriages, rape, kidnapping, assault, extortion, forced suicides, and torture.
According to the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, a report from 2009 showed that about 70,000 women and men said they risked being forced to marry against their will, with such numbers representing a massive 6.6 percent of females and 3.5 percent of males in the 16-25 age group in Sweden.
On July 1, Czechia will take over the six-month presidency of the EU Council, and the motto “Europe as a task” will then replace the current “We will sweeten it for Europe.” What the task is, the government has not yet revealed. In an interview with Czech news outlet Deník N, Minister for European Affairs Mikuláš Bek said that the Czech ambition for Ukraine is for the war-torn nation to become an EU candidate country.
According to Bek, there is a second part to the new motto that will be released as a surprise on June 15. What is not surprising is the main task of the Czech presidency: confronting Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The fallout from the invasion will likely continue to accelerate as debates surrounding the issue start turning into concrete proposals.
“We want the process of Ukraine’s rapprochement with the European Union to move forward. I cannot say how realistic it is that the European Council will be able to reach an agreement in June on granting candidate status. I would very much like that, but there is still a certain divergence of views. If that does not happen in June, we will do everything we can to make it happen during our presidency,” stated Bek, adding that giving Ukraine a candidate status could be a cherry on top of the Czech presidency.
Other countries with the candidate status, like Moldavia or Georgie, will participate in the talks too. Bek stresses that each country has its own, specific trajectory.
V4 is not a group of same-minded countries
Energy security will be a crucial issue. The main task will be to ensure fairness and solidarity in the case of Russia stopping deliveries. While a solidarity mechanism will likely not be needed for oil, it would be necessary for gas. Bek said that the European Commission should be the coordinator in such a case. Czechia will also prioritize innovation and competitiveness for the sake of the resilience of the European economy.
The next priority of the presidency should be the strengthening of the European defense and cyber defense. This task lies in the purview of the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, but according to Bek, there is plenty of space for talks about shared purchases and eventually even shared military units.
Bek dodged the question regarding the potential vote against Hungary over the EU’s new rule-of-law mechanism, claiming that there will be a governmental debate as the decision could have massive consequences. Bek also said that the V4 is more a communication platform than a group of same-minded countries.
A proposal will be presented to government ministers for further military assistance to Ukraine worth 600-700 million korunas (€24-28 million), Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová announced on Czech television.
Černochová added that the Ministry of Defense is also cooperating with the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague to buy weapons and military equipment with the money people have sent to the embassy’s bank account. So far, the embassy has received about 1.2 billion korunas (€48 million). The domestic armaments industry contributed at least 17 million korunas (€690,000).
“In total, this makes the Czech Republic one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters of military equipment,” added Černochová. “It is essential that the assistance is continuous.”
Černochová did not want to confirm or deny whether the Czech Republic also delivered combat helicopters to Ukraine, as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Monday. According to available information, Czechia also sent T-72 tanks, and the U.S. defense secretary also mentioned deliveries of missile systems.
The Ministry remains tight-lipped on the specifics
The minister confirmed that Ukraine is also receiving heavy equipment, but she refused disclose specifics.
“I don’t want to send lists of weapons we send to Ukraine to the Kremlin,” Černochová said, adding that she will not give up her efforts to help Ukraine.
At the end of April, the Czech Ministry of Defense stated that the Czech Republic had provided Ukraine with military aid worth almost 3 billion korunas (€121 million) during the two months of the war. Government officials have previously confirmed the supply of small arms, missiles, and medical equipment. According to the media, Czechia sent to Ukraine the self-propelled howitzers called Dana, salvo rocket launchers RM-70 Grad, and infantry fighting vehicles.
Černochová also pointed to supplies of humanitarian and non-military material from the Czech Republic, which are in the remit of other ministries. For example, according to data from mid-April, the Administration of State Material Reserves helped Ukraine with equipment and food worth 120 million korunas (€4.9 million).
Turkish police have reportedly captured the new Islamic State (IS) leader Hassan Hashimi Quraysh in Istanbul, who became a head of the terrorist organization three months ago after U.S. troops killed his predecessor, Ibrahim Hashimi Quraysh.
According to the Turkish online news portal, OdaTV, the police arrested Quraysh last week during an international operation. Resources remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the topic, however, according to the Bloomberg portal, the entire capture of the jihadist leader took place without opening fire.
OdaTV claims that Quraysh did not resist and is now being questioned by Turkey’s secret service. According to this portal, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will announce his arrest in the coming days.
Hasan Hashimi Quraysh became the leader of IS in March this year after the previous IS leader Abu Ibrahim Hashimi Quraysh died in early February during a U.S. special forces operation in northwestern Syria. Quraysh detonated a bomb during the operation, killing himself and his family.
The name Quraysh is used as a pseudonym and does not indicate the men are related. The name Quraysh derives from the Quraysh tribe, to which the Muslim prophet Muhammad belonged — IS claims that its leaders are descendants of the same tribe.
The arrested leader is supposedly a brother of Abu Bakr Baghdadi
According to the Iraqi secret service, the arrested Hassan Hashimi Quraysh is the brother of Abu Bakr Baghdadi. In 2014, Baghdadi created the IS caliphate from the conquered territories of Iraq and Syria.
IS radicals began to occupy large areas in Iraq and Syria in 2014, and enforced their strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law in the conquered territories. At one point, they controlled almost half of Syria and about a third of Iraq.
The civil war in Syria contributed to their expansion. In Iraq, IS was defeated in 2017, and its reign in Syria ended in March 2019. In both countries, however, they still control smaller cells that continue to commit attacks. IS branches also operate in other countries, carrying out assassinations in Afghanistan and in some African countries.
Ukrainian women at the Galaxen refugee center in Olofström, Sweden, have been told not to dress in a way that could provoke men from “other cultures” who also live at Galaxen housing facility, according to the Swedish online newspaper, Nyheter Idag.
The instruction has prompted one women’s shelter to start informing Ukrainian women of their rights.
Gitana Bengtsson, who has been helping refugees, reacted to the “advice” from the refugee housing management and made sure to connect with a women’s shelter.
“I have talked to a woman from the women’s shelter in Olofström. She said that we should go there and have an informative meeting for the women,” Bengtsson told Swedish Radio. “So that if they feel unsafe, they can call, and they should feel safe. Tell them a little about their rights and where they can turn.”
Answering how Ukrainian women dressed before being told to change, Bengtsson said that “they usually dressed like us, you and me.”
The site manager at the accommodation had reportedly told the women that they should not wear light clothing that makes body parts visible, such as short shorts or skirts.
In March, the Swedish news outlet Samnytt spoke with female Ukrainian refugees residing in the town of Örebro following an incident where foreign males entered their homes and tried to attack them.
“They said that Sweden was a safe country, but I have not seen that,” one of the women told Swedish public radio.
Jimmy Hemmingsson, a Swedish national currently assisting the humanitarian effort in the Polish capital of Warsaw, explained in a radio interview in March that refugees had been expressing concerns about the number of shootings that occur in Sweden, in addition to hearing reports of social protection services taking children away.
One woman told the Samnytt news outlet that at least they knew the possible danger and what to do about it in Ukraine: “When there are bombs, I know at least that I can go down to the basement and hide there.
Why open a discussion about its introduction again? For the TOP 09 party, it is nothing new under the sun. They are just looking out for their traditional sheep before the municipal elections in Prague. The proposal is harmless because we, as probably all the eurozone members know, do not meet the relevant criteria, but fine, let’s have the debate.
First, according to the Eurostat methodology, we do not have inflation of 14.2 percent but 13.2 percent. Moreover, at the end of the table, I find that Switzerland has, by far, the lowest inflation at 2.2 percent. Switzerland, with its certainly completely backward anti-Western orientation, still sticks to the Swiss franc and its monetary policy, and does not want to join the EU.
By the way, the Baltic countries are at the forefront of the inflation table with us and have had the euro for a long time, and just a short distance behind us are Belgium and the Netherlands.
One size does not fit all
With a basic knowledge of economics, you should understand that the rate of price growth in the currency used depends only on the extent to which monetary policy can reflect the development of the real economy — that means at what stage of the economic cycle it is, its performance, unemployment, and the degree of openness of the economy.
By understanding these dependencies, you quickly realize why inflation in countries with the same currency was 19.1 percent (Estonia) and 5.4 percent (France) in April. It is due to a phenomenon called one size fits all. The fact that one shirt fits someone like a glove inevitably means that someone else is getting strangled, and another person looks like an idiot wearing a tent.
Facts over blind faith
A common monetary policy in countries that it does not suit is simply damaging to the economy, especially if these countries do not have sufficient fiscal capacity to compensate at least a little for the European Central Bank (ECB). It thus contributes to the divergence of the economic performance of the eurozone member states instead of the originally promised convergence. This is nothing new. Robert Mundell received the Nobel Prize for his theory of the optimal currency zone in 1999 before the euro was introduced.
One look at the European inflation ladder is a clear argument against the introduction of a common currency in the Czech Republic, not for it, at least it is for those who do not follow blind faith but verifiable facts.
We do not even have to talk about what will happen when the ECB starts to raise those rates and the debt service of the highly indebted countries of southern Europe grows. Fear of this is the dominant reason for delaying the tightening of monetary policy and tolerating inflation devastating economies in the north of the continent.
British comedian and actor Ricky Gervais has used his latest Netflix stand-up special to weigh in on the ongoing transgender row recently consuming the Western world.
In typical Gervais fashion, “The Office” sitcom writer turned Hollywood star used provocation and satire to comment on the transgender issue, the perceived demise of the two gender structure, and the militant nature in which LGBTQ activists respond to any critique of their liberal agenda.
Four minutes into the hour-long Netflix special of his new stand-up set, “SuperNature,” Gervais appeared to ridicule the lack of common sense which he says now exists during the transgender debate, claiming that although he supports rights for the transgender community, “women with a penis” bother him.
“I love the new women. They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks,” Gervais told the audience.
“They’re as good as gold, I love them. And now the old-fashioned ones say, ‘Oh, they want to use our toilets.’ ‘Why shouldn’t they use your toilets?’ ‘For ladies!’ ‘They are ladies: look at their pronouns!” Gervais quipped to much applause.
“‘What about this person isn’t a lady?’ ‘Well, his penis.’ ‘Her penis, you fucking bigot!’ ‘What if he rapes me?’ ‘What if she rapes you, you fucking TERF whore?’” he added.
Commenting on the attempt to cancel fellow comedians and actors, including Kevin Hart and Liam Neeson, Gervais claimed that comedy and offense are subjective, and that one cannot state that a joke or a statement is offensive as fact, it may simply be the case that the listener has taken offense to a particular comment, something Gervais considers to be an important distinction.
Towards the end of the special, Gervais reverted back to the transgender debate, stating his unequivocal support for the rights of transgender people.
“In real life, of course, I support trans rights. I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights,” Gervais told the audience.
“Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel you are. But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying.”
Progressives criticize Gervais in response
Several people appeared on social media networks to condemn Gervais for his comments with some claiming to have canceled their Netflix subscriptions due to the offense taken.
According to them, Gervais had downplayed the issues of transgender people, while others described the humor as distasteful, stupid, and claimed Gervais was simply hateful.
However, many people also offered a staunch defense for the comedian’s right to express his views and to use comedy to tackle an important social debate, while others thanked him for saying out loud what they feel unable to freely say in today’s society.
A candidate for Éric Zemmour’s Reconquête party in the first constituency of the Côte-d’Or, and her campaign manager claim to have been attacked by anti-fascist activists near the Étaules market on Saturday.
The campaign team of Ambrine Mohamed released a statement claiming that the assailants attacked, insulted, and sprayed the candidate and her manager with water and flour. The attackers allegedly waited for the pair to leave the market, followed them down a dead-end alley, and attacked them from behind.
The statement further stated that the silence of the Mayor of Dijon François Rebsamen and the Minister of the Interior and Gérald Darmanin only amplified this phenomenon and the impunity of the aggressors. The campaign said that the mayor and the minister falsely claim that there is no political violence in France, all while allowing Antifa groups who wish to prevent and subvert democracy, and flout the freedom of expression and individual freedoms, to attack right-wing activists.
The campaign’s statement concluded by stating that the attack had only strengthened the team’s commitment and resolve.
The Czech Republic recently donated combat helicopters, tanks, and missile systems to the Ukrainian army, which are now in the possession of Ukrainian armed forces, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during a news conference on Monday.
Austin spoke to journalists following a virtual meeting with the related countries’ representatives to discuss further military assistance to Ukraine.
The Czech Ministry of Defense, which did not want to talk about the specifics of military equipment supplies to Ukraine in the past, is understood to have prepared a statement. According to Austin, approximately 20 countries have committed to providing the Ukrainian army with additional weapons.
“Today’s meeting was very good,” Austin said of the group’s virtual meeting, which first met at Austin’s invitation in late April in Ramstein, Germany.
Austin named two countries specifically, Denmark for coastal defense technology, and the Czech Republic for its significant support, including the recent donation of attack helicopters, tanks, and missile systems.
Virtual meetings are taking place every month
“Many countries donated artillery ammunition, coastal defense systems, tanks, and other armored vehicles, which are indispensable,” the U.S. secretary of defense added, mentioning Italy, Greece, Norway, and Poland.
Austin thanked the United Kingdom for coordinating the deliveries of security aid to Ukraine and sending a large amount of military equipment to Kyiv.
“Everyone here understands what’s at stake in this war,” the Pentagon chief said.
Austin called a meeting of allied countries less than a month ago and said it would meet regularly every four weeks — NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg also attended the first talks. Austin insisted that the meetings were not held under the auspices of NATO and that representatives of non-member countries were also welcome.
According to Austin, representatives of more than 40 countries took part in Monday’s meeting, with Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Ireland, and Kosovo joining since the last meeting.
The Czech Republic should spend 2 percent of its GDP on defense in 2024, which demonstrates Czech meeting its 2-pecent spending goal a full year before it originally planned, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated after Saturday’s meeting with an expert team that included President Miloš Zeman.
“The expert team of the president of the republic, with the participation of the prime minister, discussed economic issues and foreign policy with an overlap with the energy and food crisis,” said Jiří Ovčáček, the presidential spokesman.
Fiala reiterated that he would represent Zeman at the June NATO summit in Madrid. The participants also talked about the issues of the upcoming Czech presidency of the Council of the EU, the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and energy security.
Foreign Minister Lipavský was absent from the meeting
According to Fiala, even those European countries that did not initially subscribe to their alliance commitment of 2 percent of GDP have recently been discussing increasing defense spending. According to him, neutral Austria also plans to increase its spending.
The Czech Republic will spend two percent of its GDP in 2025 at the latest. However, the government is trying to achieve this goal as early as 2024. According to Fiala, however, it is not easy to increase military funding in such a short time.
Ministers usually attend the meetings with the presidential experts when the topics are related to their purview. Fiala, however, attended this meeting with the presidential team instead of the Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský. Zeman opposed the nomination of Lipavský to his position. Fiala stated that he promised to attend the meeting a long time ago and that he and Lipavský hold the same views regarding foreign policy issues.
The Czech Republic will receive €27.4 million from EU funds to help refugees from Ukraine, the European Commission has confirmed.
Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania will also receive financial aid with the total amount being released from the Home Affairs fund by the European Commission totaling €248 million.
The funding is primarily intended to be used for food, transportation, and accommodation costs for non-EU nationals fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to the latest U.N. figures, 6.4 million people have fled Ukraine during the conflict, most of whom have taken refuge in EU countries, by far the most in Poland with a current total of 3.4 million. Just shy of 1 million have now been registered in Romania, 626,000 have claimed asylum in Hungary, and almost 350,000 have flocked to Czechia for safety.
More money to come later
In April, the Commission pledged a total of €400 million to the countries most affected by the refugee wave. It is now distributing the first part of the money among five states. More than half of the total €248 million will go to Warsaw which will receive €144.6 million.
The EU executive wants to release the remaining part of the €400 million after the member states and MEPs approve the plan.
Brussels has already allowed the EU states to use the unspent money from the ending 7-year budget period to help solve the refugee wave. However, according to government officials, the figure was insufficient for Czechia which has already used or tied up most of the funds.
Czechia was, therefore, among the ten countries whose governments asked the Commission for further assistance in early May. The countries suggested using extraordinary reserves from the EU budget or greater flexibility in managing subsidies earmarked for individual states in the cohesion funds.
The governing mayor of Berlin has announced that foreign nationals will be naturalized more quickly and in large numbers across the Germany capital, according to reports by the Junge Freiheit news outlet.
Speaking in front of the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) praised the part that immigration has played in the city’s cultural enrichment.
“Berlin without immigration is hard to imagine. How poor would our city be,” she told the chamber.
Around 800,000 people living in Berlin do not have a German passport. According to experts, approximately 450,000 of them are potentially entitled to naturalization — the process of a foreign national being admitted to the citizenship of a country. Giffey acknowledged that many of them had lived and worked in the capital for many years and therefore met the requirements to become German.
“Foreigners should receive German citizenship quickly”
The social democrat called for the procedure to change so that foreign nationals can obtain a German passport quickly and efficiently. Today, Berlin naturalizes 6,000 people a year, a figure which is too low, according to Giffey.
“We should do everything we can to increase these numbers,” the mayor added.
To cope with this mass, Giffey has announced her intention to create a naturalization center, a central office that proceeds uniformly, unbureaucratically, and fairly to speed the process up currently left to the twelve Berlin districts.
Only AFD criticized the move
The CDU MP Björn Wohlert also supported promoting the German passport more intensively. However, he at the very least demanded clear requirements for naturalization: language, work, liberal values, and the acceptance of living the German way.
The liberal FDP complained that the city is currently not doing enough for foreign nationals with caucus leader Sebastian Czaja saying that people who want to live and work in Berlin still face too many obstacles.
On the other hand, criticism of the planned rapid and mass naturalizations came from the AfD. Caucus leader Kristin Brinker warned against condoning and legitimizing illegal immigration.
Last year alone, more than 80,000 people came to Berlin without a German passport, many of them illegally.
The Czech government proposes implementing measures which will extend the time limit for processing an application for temporary asylum to 60 days, but will reduce the time a refugee has to report a change of residence from 15 days to just 3.
Applicants for temporary refuge in Czechia for Ukrainians will have to prove that they have secured accommodation if they do not have housing provided by a regional assistance center.
The amendment also reduces the refugee’s entitlement to health insurance to 180 days — the change affects people aged 18-65 and the period of entitlement shall apply from the date on which they received temporary protection status.
According to Rakušan, the changes are necessary because of procedural reasons. The extension of the time for processing the application comes because the state is now checking the stamps on crossing the border from Ukraine into the Schengen area.
The state will not pay the humanitarian benefit after the approval of the proposal in cases where refugees have accommodation provided with food and other facilities free of charge. The proposal also envisages that Czechia will not issue visas and residence permits for Russians and Belarusians even after the end of the emergency.
The third month of war
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24 and the Czech Ministry of the Interior has so far issued 345,200 visas for protection to refugees — almost two-fifths of them were children while women make up 73 percent of adults.
With a visa for protection, Ukrainians are free to commence employment without any barriers, they do not need a permit. According to Rakušan, there are now about 200,000 refugees in the Czech Republic, some of whom are returning home. More than 50,000 refugees from Ukraine have found work in the Czech Republic.
The explanatory memorandum to the amendment states that if the bill is approved at the time of the end of the state of emergency, the adopted legal regulation will follow up on the relevant crisis measures. If the state of emergency continues after the day the law enters into force, the government will repeal the corresponding crisis measures due to redundancy.
Germany will donate 15 Leopard 2A4 tanks to the Czech Republic in an attempt to help replace the military equipment that the latter has supplied to Ukraine, Czechia’s Defense Minister Jana Černochová announced on Wednesday.
At the same time, both countries will commence negotiations on the purchase of another up to 50 state-of-the-art Leopard 2A7+ tanks of various modifications which Czechia could be equipped with in the coming years.
The Czech army could receive the donated tanks as early as later this year as the country continues to plan a modernization of its military capabilities, revealed, Jakub Fajnor, a press officer for the Ministry of Defense. The training of Czech tankers on German machines will also begin later this year.
The Czech army will receive 14 battle tanks and 1 rescue tank — spare parts and ammunition will also form part of the delivery provided by the German defense industry.
The ministry is preparing a contract for the donated tanks which should be signed by the summer.
The first machine is expected to be delivered within six months of signing the contract, followed by the others shortly after with the Czech government counting on a future upgrade to the 2A7+ version.
Training and modernization
This year, training of Czech soldiers will also begin in Germany, followed by more intensive combined training of Czech and German tankers on Czech territory. Because of this, the Czech defense ministry promises a faster transition to the new platform and support for bilateral cooperation.
“Many NATO allies such as our close neighbors Hungary and Poland use the Leopard tanks,” Černochová explained. “This rearmament will also contribute to creating a heavy brigade following our alliance commitments,” she added.
According to Fajnor, the purchase of new tanks and the modernization of the Czech military will take place in cooperation with the German government with the German army also planning to purchase and modernize its own Leopard 2 tanks.
“At the same time, this is an opportunity to ensure maximum involvement of the Czech defense industry, not only in supplies and modernization for the Czech army but also for far more extensive supplies for the German army,” Fajnor added.
Czechia’s Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský has lashed out at the approach of the Hungarian government, which has decided not to support any sanctions aimed at Russian energy exports, calling the country’s position unacceptable.
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, the Czech government minister criticized Viktor Orbán’s administration and claims Europe needed to be “united more than ever.”
Viktor Orban swore in as Prime Minister of Hungary. The decision and approach of Hungary’s government not to support any sanctions that target Russian energy exports is unacceptable. Especially now as Europe needs to be united more than ever.
EU countries on Monday again attempted to agree on new sanctions against Russia, the adoption of which are still hampered by disagreement over the proposed embargo on Russian oil imports.
The European Commission proposed sanctions 13 days ago and has since come up with several adjustments to address the demands of opposing countries. Hungary and Slovakia would receive an exemption from the embargo, which would apply from the end of this year until the end of 2024. Czechia would receive a similar exemption which would last until the middle of the same year. According to diplomats, Prague and Czechia are satisfied with these concessions, while Budapest imposes additional conditions.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that his country would need European investments of €15-18 billion to modernize its energy structure. According to him, the second option is to exempt oil transported by pipelines from the embargo, which would apply only to the raw material transported by tankers. Otherwise, given the expected economic impact of the measures, Budapest is not ready to support the move.
Lipavský has profiled himself as a strongly pro-Brussels politician, and he has long been hostile to the Orbán government, and considers the Hungarian administration’s approach to sanctions targeting Russian energy exports to be unacceptable and inconsistent with European solidarity.
The Czech Republic could further reduce its dependence on Russian oil after Austria agreed to expand the Transalpine Oil Pipeline (TAL) capacity, said Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
The Czech leader said that Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has voiced his support for the project, which transports crude oil from Trieste, Italy, to Central Europe. On Tuesday, Fiala welcomed Nehammer to a meeting in Prague.
“I very much appreciate that the chancellor is ready to support our efforts to expand the TAL pipeline with his authority so that we will have sufficient oil capacity in the future in case the Russian oil cannot be used in the Czech Republic for any reason,” said Fiala.
An increase in deliveries of up to 6 million tons should be possible after expansion of the TAL pipeline. In the past, the pipeline transported up to 42 million tons of oil per year. In the past two years, the flow was 38 million tons.
“We agreed on the need to work with countries that can build new LNG terminals and expand capacity,” said Fiala.
According to him, Austria is in a specific situation, as it has one of the largest gas storage capacities in Europe. Fiala and Nehammer talked about the possibility of making use of the capacity to help the Czech Republic. The storage facilities are privately owned, so it would be necessary to negotiate with the owners.
If Russia’s gas supplies to Europe end quickly before the countries build alternative capacities, the solidarity of other European countries with those at the end of the gas pipelines, with no ports and a chance to deal with the situation themselves, would be necessary.
A homeless Tunisian born in 1996 was indicted for rape and remanded in custody on Friday, May 13. Le Figaro newspaper learned from the Nice prosecutor’s office.
Last Wednesday an English woman was raped in the middle of the street in the Port district of Nice. The police arrested the main suspect of the attack, who turned out to be an illegal Tunisian migrant, recently arrived from the Italian island of Lampedusa. The suspect, homeless and born in 1996, remains in custody as the judicial inquiry opens.
The assault happened on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 11. The Englishwoman was leaving Place Garibaldi when the Tunisian followed her and then raped her on an adjacent street.
The municipal police of Nice managed to determine the path the victim and the attacker took up until the point of the rape. Armed with this information, the police recovered surveillance video of the crime and the direction the suspect went in after the rape. The police found the suspect an hour later, arresting him while he was breaking a window of a parked vehicle with a stone.
Police say they believe he was under the influence of narcotics.
EU countries have been unable to reach an agreement over new sanctions against Russia due to the disputes over the Russian oil embargo, the EU’s Foreign Minister Josep Borrell told reporters following Monday’s meeting of his member states’ counterparts.
The European Commission proposed new sanctions against Russia 12 days ago and has since come up with several adjustments to address the demands of opposing countries. Hungary and Slovakia received an exemption from the embargo which would apply from the end of this year until the end of 2024. Czechia received a similar exemption which would last until the middle of 2024. According to diplomats, Bratislava and Prague are satisfied with the concessions, while Budapest remains insistent on imposing additional conditions.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that his country would need European investments of €15-18 billion euros to modernize its energy structure. According to Szijjártó, the second option is to exempt oil transported by pipelines from the embargo, which would apply only to the raw material transported by tankers. Otherwise, given the expected economic impact of the measures, Budapest is not ready to support the action.
“The Hungarians did not cause this war … so no one can ask them to pay for it,” Szijjártó said after the meeting, adding that the negotiations would continue.
After the ministerial meeting, Borrell did not want to speculate how long persuading Hungary could take. The ministers agreed that the EU executive should find a solution. However, according to diplomats, some states are reluctant to provide Hungary with so much money from the common budget. These countries would rather negotiate an oil embargo separately from other parts of the sanctions package.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said that he would like to keep the package together. In his view, the sanctions are necessary, and Czechia will support them with the oil embargo. Lipavský added that the ministers also began to discuss the preparation of another package which should be on the table immediately after the approval of the current one.
The EU states agreed on another €500 million for Ukrainian weapons
According to Borrell, however, the representatives of the 27 governments did unanimously support the provision of another €500 million for the purchasing of heavy weaponry for Ukraine.
The co-financing of weapons for Ukraine will reach €2 billion in total. The ministers also discussed how best to ensure the transport of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain as the Russians blockade the Black Sea ports.
During its EU presidency, Czechia would like to hold a summit attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the country’s European Affairs Minister Mikuláš Bek has revealed.
Bek noted that the government is probably abandoning the original intention to organize more events in regions outside of Prague due to the war in Ukraine and deep economic problems.
According to the Czech minister, a European summit dedicated to one of the key topics of the presidency, such as energy security, is currently at stake. It should take place at the beginning of October at Prague Castle. Czechia hoped that U.S. President Joe Biden would attend, but he is unlikely to return to Central Europe so quickly after his visit to Warsaw in March. Czechia would, however, like to invite the Ukrainian president.
According to him, one of Zelensky’s advisers will go to Prague in the coming weeks. He would also like the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyn to attend the informal General Affairs Council in July.
“We would like to get the Ukrainian side into the dialogue with European prime ministers and ministers as intensively as possible so that the process of finding the form of Ukraine’s relations with the European Union corresponds as much as possible to the wishes of the Ukrainian party and our ideas,” Bek added.
Limited Czech regional programs
In addition to the summit with the Ukrainian president, a variant of the meeting of leaders of the European Union countries with the representatives of the Western Balkans is on the table. However, it depends on whether a similar meeting will take place during the French presidency, which will end in the middle of the year.
Originally, the government planned to hold more events in the Czech regions, but according to Bek, the war in Ukraine and looming economic problems mean that the ambition to strengthen the program of the presidency in the regions will have to be very cost-effective, as increasing the budget of the Czech presidency would be indefensible to the public.
Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said in Poland last week that Czechia could hold a donors’ conference for Ukraine during the presidency. According to Bek, the plan is going through a debate in the government. Czech diplomacy could either organize or co-organize the conference, but it does not necessarily have to happen on Czech territory.
In the case of a complete cut-off in Russian gas, the European Commission wants to propose a price cap on natural gas for consumers following release of a document suggesting “short-term interventions in the energy market,” according to the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
The proposal suggesting member states cap gas prices is intended to protect customers from an explosive rise in gas prices, although financing this intervention would entail considerable costs, the EU commission warns. The ceiling should be set so that Europe does not cease to be attractive enough for the supply of liquefied gas coming to Europe, where mainly U.S. traders take advantage of the significantly higher prices than in the Asian market.
Even before a possible acute gas shortage, EU member states should be allowed to “regulate consumer prices for a transitional period,” the document reads.
Price caps could lead to stock market failure
The German government is currently pushing back against such a step, fearing that forced price caps are likely to lead to stock market failure, as no one can be forced to bid at a specific price, an unnamed senior official in Berlin warned. However, some traders already do not consider the gas exchange to be a real stock exchange due to the over-regulation of energy in the EU. For example, Germany resells Russian gas to the Czech Republic at several times the price it buys it for.
Ukraine decided this week to stop using one of the key routes for Russian gas transit to Europe. The Russian gas company Gazprom announced that it would no longer be able to export gas to the EU via the Jamal pipeline through Poland due to Russian sanctions.
My relationship with Poland is deep and has evolved for a long time. Under the communist regime, of course, I looked to Solidarity and the Polish pope, but Polish literature had a great influence on me. I tried to learn Polish [during the communist era], With friends, we read books published in Polish on social sciences and theology, which were not allowed in our country, and we read Polish samizdats, from which we translated articles for Czech readers. I dare say that, thanks to the literature, I have managed to better understand Poland in its multilayered nature. I like to read Polish authors who started publishing in our country after November 1989.
I myself have long been involved in publishing translations of books by Polish thinkers, such as Ryszard Legutko, Dariusz Karłowicz, Paveł Lisicki, Agnieszka Kołakowská and Marek Cichocki. And I am very pleased that two of my books, The End of Carefree and The Laboratory of Secularization, have been translated into Polish. I consider this intellectual exchange to be something extremely important. Of course, Poland is different from Czechia, but we should listen even more carefully to the voices that come from there. That is why I do not like the stereotypes and general convictions that come to Poland from so many sides. I believe that we should rather try to understand Poland and think about what its experiences and principles can inspire us to do.
We are neighbors, but we are not the same. Modern Polish society was also shaped by sources other than Czechia. In Poland, the presence of a living religion is much more obvious. The country was also marked by the variability and ambiguity of state departments in its territory. All this affects the identity of Polish society, which places special emphasis on the care of cultural values and has a relatively stronger sense of national traditions and order. Therefore, compared to the Czech Republic, Poland has more natural preconditions to understand itself as a spiritual project and to develop specific forms of conservative thinking, which is of course reflected in its politics. Another important key to the Polish way of thinking is the eastern dimension of Polish history, anchored, among other things, by the events in Katyn — both in 1940 and, in a way, in 2010. Sometimes it is difficult for us to understand this.
Therefore, it is not worth concealing that Czech-Polish relations went through complicated historical periods, as is common on our continent, and that even in happier and calmer times, they were more neighborly, characterized by mutual observation, sometimes slightly distrustful interest or perhaps intellectual fascination. We have lived together like this for a long time. I believe it is in our interest to change that.
Even though our nations have evolved differently, there is so much that unites us. First of all, a similar historical experience in modern times: we went through the Cold War within the Soviet bloc, and after its disintegration, we headed back to Western structures, which we associated with freedom, prosperity and unprecedented security guarantees. Within the European Union, we have been tackling similar challenges since the beginning, including the ongoing energy transformation and diversification of resources (especially the effort to break free from dependence on Russia today), industrial innovation and support for the development of post-coal regions. We are working together for a sensible direction for the EU, because we share a similar view of what should be the basis of European integration – a common market and the unrestricted movement of people, goods, services and capital, and not abstract ideological goals. Soon after joining the EU, both our countries became fully aware of how our priorities within the community of European nations are mutually compatible, and often overlooked or misunderstood by the “old” EU members. Western Europe sometimes does not recognize or even refuses to admit the dangers with which the Czechia and Poland have their rich experience.
All this is returning to us with new urgency right now, in the light of the brutal, unjust and unprovoked military aggression of Russia against Ukraine. Russia has declared war not only on Ukraine, but on all of us. But Russia did not succeed in weakening us. In the face of the barbaric Eastern superpowers, we in the Czech Republic and Poland are even more aware of the strong common foundations of civilization in our countries.
It is a huge chance to overcome our differences, which today — given what we are striving for and fighting for — seem much less important. The war in Ukraine fully shows our most important common interest over the long term, which is to ensure security for our nations and for the entire European continent. For us, Poland is a close and strong ally when it comes to defending the West from Eastern threats.
We, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which have been under the direct influence of the Russian Empire for decades, must strive to pass on our experience to others, to help make the West’s attitude towards Russia as unitary and vigorous as possible. Czechia and Poland must also ensure that the states that make up the eastern part of Europe develop independently of Russia’s superpower interests, so that, like us, they can choose their own path. We must lend them a helping hand and offer them all possible support. This is our shared responsibility for the future of Europe. That is also why we have taken extensive diplomatic steps across Europe and, at the earliest moment possible, we have gone to besieged Kiev together. Our goal was to show clear support for Ukraine, to show them that they are not alone, but also to remind the world of this.
While the past is given once and for all, the future is in our hands. I am very pleased that we have recently been able to work together and find common ground. We must continue to actively look for opportunities to align our interests, maximize our influence and also learn from each other. Not only because of unquestionable external challenges, but mainly because of the real inner interest in getting to know each other, because thanks to the perspective of my neighbor, I can understand myself a little better.
I would therefore like to personally contribute to further deepening the multi-layered partnership with our Polish neighbors, to opening a new chapter in Czech-Polish relations. I believe that together we will take further steps on the road from intergovernmental agreements and declarations to real synergies in international and security policy. From mutually beneficial trading to partnerships and joint solutions that go beyond our immediate regional context.
Should Russian gas supplies be halted, Czechia has sufficient reserves to last until the end of the summer, the country’s Industry Minister Jozef Síkela has claimed.
Czech gas reserves are growing rapidly and had exceeded 1.287 billion cubic meters by Thursday morning, and domestic gas storage tanks are now almost 40 percent full, the minister revealed.
“Compared to consumption in previous years, if supplies from Russia are stopped, current stocks should last at least until the end of the summer,” Síkela affirmed.
“Today, the tanks are already 40 percent full, and that’s a huge shift, and it’s the most ever at this time of year. We will reach at least 80 percent of the tank capacity before the start of the winter season,” said Fiala.
According to Síkela, current gas reserves have more than doubled from last year. The growth rate of stocks is among the highest in Europe. Deliveries to the Czech Republic are smooth, and the storage tanks are filling at a rate of over 25 million cubic meters per day. This corresponds to approximately twice the daily consumption in the summer. The suspension of gas supplies via the Ukrainian station Sochranovka has not affected gas supplies to the Czech Republic.
The state will compensate the trades for losses
Síkela also said on Thursday that his office is in contact with traders as he attempts to motivate them to fill their reservoirs, among other things, through a crisis measure issued by the ministry on April 28.
On its basis, the first auctions are happening during which the state financially supports the storage of gas in storage tanks. The state compensates the trades, among other things, for the price difference between the current price and the price of the futures.
“We are also preparing other measures that will further strengthen the state’s influence on the management of gas in domestic storage facilities,” the minister added.
Passengers, however, are still expected to behave responsibly and to respect the decisions of others around them, EASA Chief Patrick Ky reiterated on Wednesday.
“A passenger who coughs and blows his nose should seriously consider using mouth and nose protection to keep people sitting nearby calm,” he added.
EASA also pointed out that after May 16, flights to and from destinations where masks are still mandatory may require them.
The restrictions have been ongoing for more than two years
Mandatory masking was introduced for all passengers and airports in the European Union as one of the measures against the spread of Covid-19, and was in place for the last two years.
Czech President Miloš Zeman has approved the request of 103 Czech citizens to join Ukraine’s military forces, a decision that is expected to be co-signed by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, according to his spokesman, Václav Smolka.
At the beginning of March, Fiala agreed with Zeman that the two could guarantee immunity to those who go fight for Ukraine. Fiala stated back then that it was not possible to give a collective permit to go to war abroad, and that because of the number of applications, it was not practical to provide individual approval to applicants.
The formal procedure is now complete
According to constitutional lawyer Jan Kysela, Zeman has completed the formal approval process with his signature.
“I think these are requests that have been made and on which the ministries of defense, interior, and foreign affairs have commented,” said Kysela. “The verification has ended with the president of the republic making this decision.”
According to Kysela, the question now is whether the applicants were waiting for this decision or if they had already headed to Ukraine without consent. If the latter applies, the applicants have committed a crime that immunity would not cover.
Germany and France are making a new push to remove veto powers from national member states, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling this week for the end to unanimous consent in the EU regarding important policy areas, such as healthcare, foreign policy, and defense.
The radical move, which would arguably lead to a European superstate, has already been rejected by 13 member states, with politicians connected with Poland’s ruling government indicating that it represents a power grab, a threat to national sovereignty, and a sign that “Berlin wants to rule Europe.”
Although the popular consensus is that such a treaty change cannot happen without unanimous consent from all nations, there are those who are claiming otherwise.
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Former European Commissioner Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, who currently serves as the president of the Institute of International Affairs, revealed during an interview with Il Giornale that he is convinced a push for the revision of EU treaties is possible.
According to Feroci, Article 48 of the EU treaty allows for as few as one member state, or the European Parliament or the Commission, to initiate a proposal to revise the treaties and then begin the process by convening a convention.
“A simple majority vote of the European Council can set it into motion. That is, once someone has presented the proposal, and in this case, it will be the European Parliament that will make it, because it has already announced it, the Council must pronounce itself and can do so by a simple majority of its members,” said Feroci, adding that 14 states would be enough for such a treaty change.
Recently, as many as 13 member countries have reiterated their opposition to the revision of the treaties. According to Feroci, a decision of the European Council with an intergovernmental conference can achieve simpler, more targeted revisions on individual provisions. All EU parliaments would still need to ratify any such change for it to enter into force.
Orbán’s position is understandable
Feroci does not see anything happening before the European Council summit in June — he explains that countries who remain opposed to moving from unanimity to a qualified majority fear the loss of their sovereignty.
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“They have been seeking an agreement for more than a week. It reflects the difficulties of overcoming the unanimity rule. I have no sympathies for Orbán’s Hungary, but I can understand his position,” Feroci said.
If the treaties were changed, it could produce a major consolidation of power in Brussels. For example, Hungary would not be able to veto sanctions on Russian energy, an act that the country’s government argues would lead to the collapse of its economy and a major economic crisis.
The Czech Republic has had a successful candidacy for the United Nations Human Rights Council after the position became vacant in early April following the council’s expulsion of Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Requiring at least 97 votes for the election, the Czech Republic, as the only candidate country, received 157 votes of the General Assembly, while 23 abstained.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský revealed his satisfaction at the successful election and stated that his country belongs on the council ahead of Russia.
“I consider it a very strong and high-quality result. The 23 abstaining states were countries that we did not address or expect to support us during our campaign.
“I have been actively lobbying our partners in recent days. I am glad that this work has paid off,” said Lipavský, adding that human rights and the renewal of the foreign policy legacy of the former Czech president Václav Havel are his priority.
The term of office begins on May 10, 2022, and ends on Dec. 31, 2023 — Czechia will therefore take part in Thursday’s extraordinary meeting of the council.
According to Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who has sought to tie his government to the Transatlantic consensus, human rights are a constant of Czech foreign policy.
Czech politicians approve of the election
“When we look at current Russia and the Czech Republic, even with all the criticism of the Czech Republic, I must say that in terms of human rights, the Czech Republic certainly has much more to say than Russia today,” said the Czech Interior Minister Vít Rakušan.
Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš also praised the election to one of the most important U.N. bodies.
The Human Rights Council is a U.N. body of 47 states that elects the General Assembly for three years to promote and protect human rights. Russia was also a member until the beginning of April, but the U.N. General Assembly decided to suspend Russian membership in the council due to the war in Ukraine, which has resulted in significant civilian casualties.
EU countries should consider seizing Russia’s foreign exchange reserves to use to rebuild Ukraine, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell revealed in an interview with the Financial Times on Monday.
The West is debating how to force Moscow to pay for part of the damage caused by the invasion of Ukraine, and Borrell likened the proposal to that of the United States seizing several billion dollars in assets from the Afghan central bank, partly to compensate the victims of terrorism and humanitarian aid to the country. In Borrell’s view, it is logical to treat Russian similarly.
“I’d definitely be in favor. It makes sense,” Borrell said. “We have the money in our pockets, and someone has to explain to me why we can do it with Afghan money but not with Russian money,” he added.
The EU and its allies have already frozen hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign exchange reserves on Russian central bank accounts — the total value of frozen assets in the form of foreign exchange and gold reserves exceeds €550 billion.
EU officials are discussing whether they could use Russian reserves to rebuild Ukraine, although Brussels has not yet submitted any political proposal in this regard. In March, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned not to take such action lightly.
Europe will bear the brunt of Ukraine’s rebuild
According to the EU, the reconstruction of Ukraine will require hundreds of billions of euros, and all European nations are likely to bear some of that financial responsibility. U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed selling the confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs to help Ukraine, an idea also supported by European Council President Charles Michel last week.
The European Commission is dealing with the legal side of things, which is not easy due to the need to respect due process and the legal rights of individuals. Confiscation of property is sometimes possible after a criminal conviction, however, situations where sanctions have been imposed on someone do not meet such a requirement.
The plan to seize Russia’s foreign exchange reserves would be a dramatic move and would likely worry governments that have strained relations with the EU and its partners.
“Who pays for the reconstruction of Ukraine is one of the most important political issues,” Borrell stated.
The topic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be important for the upcoming Czech presidency of the European Union, which begins in less than two months, and Czechia will advocate for Ukraine to join the bloc, Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavský confirmed in a recent interview for the iDNES.cz news outlet.
Lipavský revealed that the Czech Republic will support Ukraine’s European ambitions during its presidency, noting that it will be a long journey for Ukraine as it must complete all the procedural steps and gain approval from all the members of the European Union, however, he maintained that bringing the country closer to the EU is the most sensible course of action.
“After all, it will be largely European money that will be used to rebuild Ukraine,” Lipavsky told viewers. “It is in our interest to be as close to Ukraine as possible according to our rules, and we need to help Ukraine with all this. This will also be one of the topics of our presidency,” he added.
Russia has no moral claim to celebrate on Victory Day
Commenting on the Russian celebrations of the Victory Day on May 9, Lipavský said that Russia lost any moral claims to celebrate the end of World War II when it chose to invade Ukraine.
“It is necessary to realize that Russia, with its barbaric and brutal attack on Ukraine, violates international law and the U.N. Charter, which contains an article prohibiting an offensive war,” affirmed the Czech foreign minister.
Lipavský also responded to the reports of Vladimir Putin signing a decree imposing retaliatory sanctions in response to hostile action by some countries and international organizations, insisting that he has no information about these sanctions affecting Czech companies and that every sensible entrepreneur has already left Russia.
“The embassy works in difficult conditions. We have a small embassy there, and they have expelled one of our diplomats. However, our colleagues and the ambassador are dealing with this very well and deserve great respect for their work,” commented Lipavský on the functioning of the Czech embassy in Moscow.
The Czech foreign minister added that he is not currently considering additional deportations of Russian staff from Prague — that includes the Russian ambassador Alexander Zmeevsky who remains in the Czech capital. In Lipavský’s view, it is good to maintain at least the most elementary lines of communication.
While commenting on the Muslim riots over Easter weekend in Sweden, Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson made headlines when she said that the integration of immigrants was a failure. Her comments mark a turning point and reveal a new consensus among public decision-makers in Sweden, Iranian-Swedish economist and researcher Tino Sanandaji has claimed in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro.
Sanandaji, who works at the Institute for Economic and Business History Research at the Stockholm School of Economics, said that the prime minister’s declaration must be understood in the context of a profound evolution of the Swedish Social Democratic Party over the past three years.
Tino Sanandaji is a prominent economist who has been an outspoken critic of Sweden’s policy of mass immigration from Third World countries.
“Until 2019, the party’s official position was that immigration had no impact on crime, that it was necessary to save the welfare state and that those who thought higher immigration rates high were the cause of the dramatic increase in gang violence were racist and ‘anti-science.’ Now, the official position of Social Democrats is to admit that the immigration of refugees is costly and contributes to crime as well as segregation. This shift in policy and rhetoric helped the Social Democratic Party rise in the polls.
As Remix News has previously reported, Sweden’s growing migrant community has helped fuel a dramatic rise in murders, making Sweden one of Europe’s most dangerous countries. A huge factor driving this crime wave has to do with migrant clans, of which there are at least 40 operating in the country. A public souring on mass immigration has forced politicians to rethink there once open borders stance, says Sanandaji.
“it does not surprise me that she admits the problems of integration known to serious sociologists. Many Swedish politicians knew this very well, but were afraid to express it, because any open criticism of immigration has long been considered racist and would have led to the ruin of their careers,” the Swedish researcher noted.
Sanandaji’s claim that Swedish sociologists were “afraid to express” themselves is well grounded in reality. In once case, prominent Swedish scientists faced prosecution after their research revealed that most rapes are committed by immigrants.
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Although Sweden’s current prime minister may belong to the left, she has taken a more pragmatic view on the issue of immigration, according to Sanandaji.
“I should also note that new Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has never belonged to the far left, pro-migration and utopian wing of her party,” he pointed out, adding that many Swedish politicians knew the truth all along but were afraid to admit it.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson arrives for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, March 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
According to Sanandaji, public opinion across Sweden has favored limiting immigration for decades.
“There was, however, a strong consensus in favor of immigration among political elites and in the media — that was the main reason behind the rise of the anti-immigration party, Sweden Democrats, which has gone from almost zero to almost a fifth of the votes in twenty years of existence. Opinion polls showed that only 20 percent to 25 percent of Swedes wanted to increase the reception of refugee migrants, while 70 percent to 80 percent of parliamentarians and journalists were in favor. What has changed is that growing public discontent over this issue has forced the country’s political elites to pander to the wishes of the electorate…
Sweden is a consensus society: while almost the entire political spectrum, with the exception of a small minority, was in favor of opening borders in 2015 or 2016, almost the entire political spectrum, with the exception of a small minority now supports limiting immigration.”
Sanandaji said he opposes the usual leftist historical revisionism, clarifying that Sweden has historically been a homogeneous country that has started receiving non-Western immigrants only recently. Swedish politics became more radical in the 1980s when the government began taking in unsustainable numbers of migrants. From 1985 to 2015, the rate of immigration to Sweden was four times higher than to other Western European countries. The share of the non-Western population rose from 2 percent to 20 percent in 2022 — less than 10 percent of the public believes that the integration has been a success.
“Swedish rules are still de facto more generous than most European countries, especially given family reunification and various legal loopholes,” Sanandaji noted. “We still welcome around 80,000 to 90,000 migrants a year, the majority from outside the European Union,” he added.
Sanandaji also claimed that Sweden now has levels of segregation approaching or exceeding those of France. It is a watershed moment for a country whose media once portrayed the 2005 Paris riots as an exotic, even extraterrestrial event that Sweden would never experience. Today, the Swedish media looks towards French public policies to learn how to avoid riots and violence.
Germany will help replace the heavy weapons equipment the Czech Republic provides to Ukraine during its war effort with Russia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has confirmed during a joint press conference in Berlin with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
The German leader did not wish to disclose specific details, but according to Fiala, the agreement concerns heavy weapons.
“As far as arms supplies are concerned, we want to work closely together,” Scholz told journalists. “Czechia can provide weapons that originate from Russian production, which Ukraine could use immediately. We can help the Czech army maintain the necessary strength. We call it a fair exchange,” he added.
Fiala said that the joint project concerns the modernization of the Czech army and concrete support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and confirmed both sides will continue to negotiate on the exact form of cooperation. The Czech prime minister added that he was pleased to see the two sides reach an agreement so quickly, fulfilling the potential of being able to supply the Ukrainian army with weapons it urgently needs.
Germany is becoming more involved
Scholz passed over the question about the specific Czech weapons requirements by saying that both sides know what they want to do and are already far along the way in terms of talks.
The German government, which has long been reluctant to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine, has decided to become more involved in mass arms and equipment exchanges. Germany would thus compensate the allies for the military supplies they would provide to Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht recently explicitly mentioned a possibility that the exchange would involve Eastern European allies who are leaving their Soviet-made equipment to Ukraine.
The association of Berlin-Brandenburg housing companies (BBU) has proposed a legal limitation on living space for individuals at a time when the city, just like the rest of Europe, is struggling with a continuing housing crisis.
“It is not possible for us to complain about shortages while, at the same time, the living space per capita in many places continues to increase,” said association leader Maren Kern on Wednesday.
What would these proposed restrictions look like? In essence, they would force people who live in bigger spaces to move to smaller spaces or pay an extra tax, at least for those people renting from the various housing companies and cooperatives in the city.
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In this regard, Switzerland has already set the example, which features a large number of space restrictions for the housing cooperatives in the country.
“In a four-room apartment, for example, at least three people must live there. If a child moves out at some point, the parents can move to a smaller apartment, or they must pay an under-occupancy tax,” explained Kern, who advocates for anchoring the proposal in German tenancy law.
Berlin has been a magnet not only for EU citizens, but also for mass migration from non-EU countries, with many of these migrants housed in extremely pricey complexes. This phenomenon, coupled with central bank money printing and negative interest rates, has sent housing and rent prices skyrocketing in the German capital, which is the same story seen across the entire country as well as Europe.
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Berlin has long been known as a city with space, both in terms of green space and low-cost living space. However, the older Berlin population, who benefitted from cheap housing stock and cheap rents, often occupy large houses and apartments, while those younger people looking to form a family are increasingly cramped into small apartments with exorbitantly high rents. As seen in other Western cities like London and New York, many of these young people forego family formation in favor of living in shared apartments with roommates in what many have described as a permanent adolescence. At the same time, those younger people who choose to have families sometimes do not have the space for as many children as they would like.
Older people and wealthier people living in more spacious apartments have little incentive to give up their spaces, and forcing them into smaller spaces would raise serious moral and legal questions, although Germany has evicted seniors in the past with little compunction.
In mid-April, Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz pushed away from the concept of the single-family house, which some on the far-left have long advocated. She complained that this was “economically and ecologically non-sensical” because there were often not large families living there but two senior citizens. However, the German Green Party wants to ban the construction of single-family homes entirely, even for families.
For now, the BBU’s proposal remains just a proposal, but a growing lack of affordable housing could lead to such proposals becoming law in the future.
The United States provided intelligence to the Ukrainian military that facilitated the killing of Russian generals in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, unnamed senior U.S. officials have told the New York Times.
According to the Times, this transfer of information demonstrates the broader efforts of the American government to provide Ukraine with real-time help on the battlefield.
“The United States is focusing on providing location and other information about the Russian military’s mobile headquarters, which is often relocating,” the NYT wrote. “Ukrainian officers have combined this geographical information with their knowledge and carried out artillery strikes and other attacks that have killed Russian officers,” the newspaper added, although it did not specify how many Russian generals were killed based on information provided by the Americans.
Some attacks happened without American support
Ukrainian officials say that the defenders have eliminated a dozen Russian generals since the invasion began, a number which analysts consider to be very high. Russian denies that so many generals have died. Not all attacks were a result of documents provided by the Americans. For instance, a strike at the weekend which seemingly injured the Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov took place without American support.
“Targeting assistance is part of a secret effort by the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with real-time battlefield information. This information also includes the expected movements of Russian troops,” the Times report said.
Washington tried to keep this form of assistance largely secret, fearing that Russia would see it as an escalation and that it would provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin to start a broader war.
French police took three illegal migrants into custody late Monday afternoon after they violently assaulted several police officers at Porte de Clignancourt, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris.
In a video shared widely on social media, one of the illegal migrants can be seen coming up behind the female police officer as she attempts to aid her partner involved in another arrest. She sees the man attempting to grab her, at which point she briefly discharges her pepper spray canister. The man grabs her, pushes her towards a parked car, and then slams her head into the hood. She gets back up to her feet, at which point he punched her in the face.
The female police officer was brought to the hospital, where she required three days to recover before she could return to work.
The incident began around 4 p.m. on May 3, when a police unit noticed that migrants lighting fires under a bridge that they have been occupying for almost a month. The police immediately asked those present to put out the fires to prevent them from spreading to nearby tents, but the migrants refused. They began throwing various projectiles in the direction of the officers, at which point they moved in to make arrests.
In the video, it appears that suspects targeted for arrest managed to escape, but police reported that reinforcements from the Territorial Security Brigade and the Saint-Ouen Anti-Crime Brigade arrested three individuals and took them into police custody at the Saint-Ouen police station, where they confirmed that the suspects were adults and had no official documentation, reports Le Figaro.
“Wearing the uniform no longer inspires respect. It is even quite the opposite. Today, we face thugs who no longer have any limits. Often, we know these individuals very well as we have arrested them countless times. They do not care about authority,” said Matthieu Valet, the spokesperson for the Independent Union of Commissioners and Police. The police trade unionist is campaigning in particular for establishing minimum sentences so that each conviction results in a prison sentence, even if it adds up to just a few days behind bars.
Violence against police has risen dramatically in France, with all 14 police unions in the country calling for military intervention last year to restore order to the country. A similar assault against police officers occurred just last month, in which 15 individuals surrounded and beat two officers trying to arrest a suspect. Cases involving the murder of police officers have also risen substantially in recent years.
Under certain circumstances, Czechia is willing to support the end of Russian oil imports by the end of this year, Czech Industry and Trade Minister, Jozef Síkela stated following an extraordinary meeting with European colleagues devoted mainly to securing sufficient gas supplies.
To limit the capabilities of Russia’s government to finance military aggression in Ukraine, Brussels is planning an embargo on Russian oil imports. According to diplomatic sources, it will likely take a form of a gradual end to imports by the end of this year. The member states do not yet have a common position on the proposal, with both Hungary and Slovakia intending to negotiate an exception.
The Czech Republic has also sided with the majority of EU countries who are refusing to pay for Russian gas in rubles.
According to Síkela, Czechia could support the proposal if the proposed joint energy purchases work and the union has reserves at its disposal to cover possible shortcomings in the European market.
“If the principle applies that we must share the pain equitably, then I can imagine that we would support the sanctions,” said Síkela after the talks, referring to the expected economic problems associated with the end of Russian oil production.
The ministers also discussed securing sufficient gas for their countries while not violating existing anti-Russian sanctions. According to the European Commission, paying in rubles would constitute such a violation. Síkela explained the Czech Republic still intends to pay for gas in euros. Such a process is, however, facilitated by the fact that Czechia buys most of its gas on Western European stock exchanges. The only Czech company that buys gas directly in Russia is ČEZ, which, according to the minister, still pays in euros.
“We have agreed not to take any steps that would weaken the effect of the sanctions on the Russian Federation. We cannot do such a thing,” Síkela said in response to Russia’s request to pay in rubles.
Like his counterparts from other countries, Síkela said the Commission had not yet fully clarified in which case the payment for Russian gas would violate sanctions. According to the minister, the EU executive has promised to do so in the coming days.
So far, the Czech Republic has provided Ukraine with military assistance worth almost 3 billion korunas (€122 million), announced the Czech Ministry of Defense on Friday.
According to unofficial sources, the Czech Republic sent ammunition, small arms, and heavy equipment to Ukraine. The heavy equipment included Dana self-propelled howitzers, Grad RM-70 salvo rocket launchers, Soviet-made T-72 tanks, and infantry fighting vehicles. However, the government does not publish details of the weapons sent for security reasons.
Czech Ministry of Defense spokeswoman Jana Zechmeisterová confirmed that Czechia is negotiating with Germany regarding military aid to Ukraine. The German newspaper Die Welt reported this week that Germany had offered the Czech Republic military material and weapons in exchange for the equipment that Prague would send to the Ukrainian army. The Czech army can send older equipment, which the Ukrainian soldiers know how to operate.
“With the German side, it is now a matter of setting up a cooperation model, not a specific offer,” said Zechmeister. Ukraine also received military material, purchased thanks to a charity drive organized with the help of the Ministry of Defense by the Ukrainian embassy. By mid-April, people and companies had contributed a billion korunas (€41 million).
At the same time, Czech armaments companies became involved in the repair of Ukrainian military equipment. The Ministry of Defense announced last week that the first contract is for the repair of T-64 tanks by the Czechoslovak Group companies.
A satellite band worth a billion
On Friday, Deputy Minister of Defense Lubor Koudelka signed an agreement with Airbus Defense and Space to lease the TASCAT satellite band for better and safer communication between soldiers on foreign missions. Over the course of 15 years, the defense ministry will pay 1.08 billion korunas (€44 million).
“The tactical satellite communication service is characteristic with high flexibility associated with the immediate establishment of communication with a unit on the move or conducting combat operations,” the ministry said. Czech soldiers operate with terminals and radio stations that can work in TACSAT but have not yet had a UHF satellite band available for the system operation.
The army has been interested in TACSAT for a long time. The urgency of its acquisition increased with the war in Ukraine. The system will serve primarily to ensure the security of Czech soldiers who deploy in foreign operations in the Baltics, Africa, and Slovakia. A multinational NATO combat group has been operating in Slovakia since April.
Europe is facing an influx of acute hepatitis cases — or liver inflammation — in young children, with the United Kingdom the most severely effected country. Several of the children even had to undergo a liver transplant, and with scientists unsure what is causing the severe cases of hepatitis, there are worries more cases could be on the horizon.
Currently, Western European countries are most affected, with 55 cases in European Union nations, according to the World Health Organization. However, the United Kingdom reported the most cases, 145 since January, with ten children already undergoing a liver transplant due to severe jaundice. Of the 145 cases, 38 are still in the hospital. The hepatitis outbreak comes at the same time as the increase in tuberculosis cases in countries like the Czech Republic.
While scientists have floated a number of theories why the children are experiencing such severe cases of hepatitis, one theory is that an adenovirus — the same groups of viruses that can cause colds, fevers, pneumonia, diarrhea, or conjunctivitis — is responsible. They are usually not responsible for hepatitis, but they can be an exceptional complication in some infections.
The researchers claim that due to Covid-19 lockdowns, children were not exposed to the viruses on a regular basis, which could have impacted their immune system. Later exposure to the family of viruses, which routinely infect children, also means the children may have had a more severe immune system response, which may have led to increased liver inflammation.
Doubts remain
There are some doubts about the adenovirus theory as well. Many of the children with hepatitis in the U.K. tested positive for an adenovirus, yet, researchers also say that this is not necessarily evidence that an adenovirus is responsible, as children often test positive for such viruses. In addition, the pattern doctors are seeing is not typical of illness from adenoviruses, which means they are researching other factors they may be overlooking, including Covid-19, other infections, or even an environmental cause.
Some on the web have urged doctors to explore the possibility of Covid-19 vaccinations, however, most of the children who have been hit with these hepatitis cases are 5 and under. While 5 million children in the 5 to 11 age range have been vaccinated in the U.K., children under 5, who are the vast majority of victims of hepatitis, have been approved to receive a Covid-19 jab yet, and according to the BBC, none of the affected children have received one.
Czechia now has oil reserves for three months, gas reserves for two summer months, and nuclear fuel reserves for two to three years, the country’s Prime Minister Petr Fiala revealed during proceedings in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, the Minister of Industry Jozef Síkela issued an extraordinary measure which ordered that gas storage facilities in the Czech Republic should be 80 percent full before the heating season.
“We will take every step to fill the tanks before next winter,” Fiala told the chamber. According to the Minister of Industry Jozef Síkela, the plan is to fill the tanks to at least 80 percent, compared to the usual 30 percent. The state will have to work with the private sector on this as the market in the Czech Republic has long been fully liberalized.
According to the prime minister, the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant has a supply of nuclear fuel for two years, and the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant for three years. Future fuel for Temelín will not be provided by Russia but by France and the United States.
“We are at the end of all routes”
According to Fiala, the Czech Republic has succeeded in ensuring that the energy security of EU members will be secured by the sharing of gas, and Fiala reiterated his support for designating nuclear energy as a supported clean energy source.
Russia cannot recognize which gas goes to the Czech Republic as the country is at the end of all pipeline routes, the Czech prime minister claimed. However, this also means that the landlocked country does not have access to coastal LNG terminals which could become problematic.
Fiala also assured the chamber that suppliers should meet Czechia’s demand in the case of brown coal. Regarding black coal, there is a possibility that Poland could limit deliveries, and this is something Fiala plans to discuss with his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki during Fiala’s upcoming visit to Warsaw.
A crucial topic of the Czech presidency of the EU Council will be the protection of the bloc’s external borders following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country’s Interior Minister Vít Rakušan claimed on Tuesday.
Following discussions with his Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner, Rakušan revealed his country wanted to emphasize issues related to internal security, with the six-month Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union, which begins in July, being the perfect opportunity to do so.
“We did not choose the basic topic,” Rakušan told reporters. “Vladimir Putin gave us the basic topic. The basic topic will be the Ukrainian crisis.”
The Czech Republic will thus deal primarily with the effects of the Russian invasion and the protection of external borders. According to Karner, this protection must be robust with clear rules, despite Ukrainians deserving help. Countries must have a clear overview of all arrivals which means there is a necessity for accurate registration.
“I want to assure that there will be no discussion on the introduction of quotas under the Czech presidency, and no such discussion is taking place under the French presidency,” Rakušan added.
Police cooperation between Czechia and Austria
According to Karner, Austria is one of the countries most affected by illegal immigration, however border protection can be achieved in several ways. Introduction of border controls, joint police patrols, or targeted selection and occupation of checkpoints on roads or public transport are all on the table.
Another topic of discussion during the meeting was police cooperation. The ministers talked about human trafficking, smuggling, and drug trafficking. According to Karner, a mixed police patrol should start operating at the Czech-Austrian state border in the second half of this year.
At the same time, the ministers stated that the possible accession of Ukraine to the European Union will be up for discussion with Karner emphasizing that all members states will decide on the issue. Rakušan reiterated that he would like Ukraine to have clear access to European institutions. According to him, Ukraine deserves to become a member of the EU in time, if it so desires.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 5 million people left Ukraine by mid-April with 90 percent of Ukrainian refugees being women and children. More than 2.9 million Ukrainians fled across the border to Poland, while arrivals in the Czech Republic have stabilized at about 300,000.
Media freedom across Central Europe is deteriorating according to most inhabitants of the Visegrád Group, with just 38 percent of people considering the media to be independent.
Data published by the Median agency reveals the rising distrust in the freedom of the press across the four countries.
Within the group, Czechs are the most likely to reject state or owner intervention in the functioning of the media. At the same time, Czechs most often see their media as free.
Almost half of Czechs think that the media can do their job currently without government intervention and censorship. In contrast, a quarter of people do not consider the media free.
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Although not even half of Czechs perceive the media in their country as free, they still exceed the average of the Visegrád Group on this issue where just 38 percent consider their national media to be independent.
That number, however, is higher than other nations such as the United States, where only 36 percent of respondents trust the media to report the news fairly and accurately. In addition, 29 percent of the public said they either have “not very much” trust and 34 percent who said they have “none at all.”
In the Visegrád Group, a third believe they do not have freedom of the press in their country. Less than half of people in both Czechia and Hungary feel concerned about media freedom, unlike Poland where 63 percent of people are worried about press freedom.
About half of the population of all four countries think that media freedom has deteriorated in the last five years, however people are split by party lines. Supporters of the ruling Law and Justice party in Poland and of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Hungary think that the media is now freer than in the past.
In the Czech Republic, the supporters of the ANO movement think that the media freedom has worsened, despite ANO being in power from 2017 to 2021. They are, nevertheless, the least worried about the current situation, with Freedom and Direct Democracy voters being the most concerned.
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Czechs are the most likely to disagree with the statement that the media owner has the right to interfere in its content — 62 percent are against it. According to 80 percent of Czechs, the government has no right to influence public service broadcasting.
In Czechia, 38 percent of people feel that the public service media does not represent their views, while 33 percent feel it does. Among the Visegrád Four, Czechs are the most opposed to the government supporting the media with subsidies or tax breaks. In Poland, on the other hand, almost half of the people back these measures.
Median based the survey on the responses of 4,069 respondents over the age of 18. 1,010 respondents came from the Czech Republic, 1,000 from Slovakia, 1,043 from Poland, and 1,016 from Hungary. Data collection took place between Feb. 1 and Feb. 17 of this year.
It was not only young men but also mothers and children who took part in the violent riots in Sweden on Easter weekend, said Eva Nemec Nordh, the chief prosecutor at Linköping’s Public Prosecutor’s Office,,
The Muslim riots took place in Skäggetorp in Linköping, where around 200 people participated — mainly young men but also burka-clad women and children. The rioters burned police vehicles and injured dozens of officers, some severely. They were protesting Danish far-right supporters organized by Stram Kurs who vowed to publicly burn a Quran.
Sweden has long suffered from disastrous immigration policies and Muslim migrants especially have been responsible for large increases in crime, a reality the establishment media has often sought to obfuscate.
“Mothers and children threw stones together. The mothers patted the children and cheered,” said Eva Nemec Nordh. “It feels completely absurd. Families with children participated together with young men. It is completely crazy that you take your children into such an environment,” the chief prosecutor added.
Women and children also appeared in the riots in Rinkeby in Stockholm, according to eyewitness Garip Güneş.
“I heard a mother brag to a friend that her son, who is 11 or 12, had gone out to throw stones when he heard about the Quran burning,” he said. “In such situations, women often have a calming effect, but today women also threw stones. Their children were next to them, and they did not care.”
The world’s dependence on coal was already growing even before the war in Ukraine, with consumption and production exploding higher following the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions. However, the war in Europe has exacerbated a global energy crisis, causing a domino effect. Electricity producers now lack this vital raw material and prices are climbing to new records.
Germany and Italy have even resorted to considering proposals to recommission old coal-fired power plants, once considered nearly impossible to consider given the Green Party’s prominent role in Germany’s left-wing government. At the same time, more and more coal-laden ships are setting out from South Africa to serve nations across the globe, according to Czech news outlet Idnes.cz. In the U.S., coal-based energy is experiencing its biggest recovery in ten years, and China is reopening once-closed mines and planning new ones.
Interest in coal fuel has far-reaching implications for the global economy, as higher prices will continue to support inflation. However, analysts say coal is still relatively one of the cheapest energy sources, which makes it increasingly important for country’s seeking to ensure they have a stable energy supply. This new-found demand for coal comes at a time when mining companies are failing to cop with demand and generally refuse to make new investments to boost output, as they fear the overall long-term demand prospects are poor due to the UN and EU’s obsession with phasing out coal.
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According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world produced a record amount of electricity from coal last year. Year-on-year production has increased by 9 percent, and this year, total coal consumption is expected to increase by another 2 percent. According to a Bank of America report in early April, coal burned in power plants is one of the cheapest fuel sources, at the cost of around $15 per million British thermal units.
The European Union, notable for its unrealistic climate targets, increased coal consumption by 12 percent last year. In the U.S., consumption rose by 17 percent and was higher in Asia, Africa, and Latin America as well.
Europe struggles to replace Russian energy
Europe is desperately looking for a way to reduce its dependence on Russia, its main supplier of fossil fuels. In an effort to cut Russian gas, it is seeking to increase overall coal consumption to keep energy flowing, yet, Europe also receives much of its coal from Russia as well. The EU is therefore committed to paying more for supplies of non-Russian coal. This gamble is raising prices on world markets, fueling inflation in poorer countries, and leading to shortages nearly everywhere.
Even before Europe’s risky move, coal supplies were uncertain. Last year, a power plant in Germany was forced to shut down because it ran out of coal. The coal shortage has also caused power outages in India and China, which account for two-thirds of global coal consumption.
Japan and South Korea are also restricting Russian coal imports while countries like Indonesia and Australia are limiting exports of their own coal. This will further increase demand for alternatives to the 187 million tons of coal that Russia exported last year, and the question is whether that demand can be met without sending prices soaring even higher.
Černochová revealed that the two countries would soon conclude a bilateral defense cooperation agreement which could see Czechia purchase new fighter jets and tanks from the United States, in addition to its current order for a new fleet of helicopters.
It was the first direct meeting of both countries at the ministerial level since the beginning of the current phase of the Russian war in Ukraine.
Austin welcomed the Czech visitors by heaping praise on the country for being one of the leaders in defense and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and thanked the Czech Republic for its participation in the new NATO battle group in Slovakia. He also confirmed that the current U.S. administration is interested in quickly concluding an agreement with the Czech Republic on defense cooperation.
“We have confirmed the intent and we will now discuss the specific provisions of that agreement,” said Černochová after the talks. “Here, my colleagues and the American side have communicated that our treaty should be more general, that there should be no specific issues such as troop numbers or specific points, as has been the case with other treaties in neighboring countries.”
No American base for now
Černochová also outlined the Czech efforts to quickly shake off its dependence on the Russian arms industry and the will to continue the modernization of the Czech army in cooperation with the Americans.
The U.S. will deliver 12 military helicopters to Czechia next year, and Černochová would welcome up to 30. She also talked to the Americans about the Czech need for new tanks and fighter jets, hinting that an order for such vehicles could be made further down the line. The Czech defense minister expressed her hope that the very active Czech assistance to Ukraine will help it jump the current line of congested production caused by the war.
As a part of debates on a new NATO strategy, talks about the possibility of new American bases in Eastern Europe have been ongoing, even in Washington itself. Civic Democrat (ODS) politicians, including Prime Minister Petr Fiala, have talked about a base in the Czech Republic as their wish, which is not currently on the table.
Černochová did not bring up such a proposal, and it is not a part of the agreement. She has promised that the Czech Republic would reach its commitment to spend 2 percent of its GDP on defense by 2025.
The defense ministers of the Czech Republic and the United States confirmed their interest in concluding a defense cooperation agreement in Washington on Thursday.
Unlike similar U.S. treaties with other countries, the agreement will be more general — for example, it will not specify the exact number of soldiers to be deployed to the country, nor will it mention the establishment of a U.S. military base in the Czech Republic.
“I would like to officially confirm the Czech intention to sign the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), which will strengthen our position as a good ally of the United States,” said Czechia’s Defense Minister Jana Černochová, who is of the belief that the agreement will deepen cooperation within NATO.
The agreement will also reportedly help with the modernization of the Czech army which is trying to replace outdated Soviet equipment. According to Černochová, Czechia is in the middle of negotiations to acquire more Bell helicopters, and must also address the future of the heavy brigade and fighter jets.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin promised that he would see to it that the Czech Republic had priority with the United States regarding its planned modernization projects.
In her introductory speech, Černochová also reminded Austin of Czech aid to Ukraine in the form of receiving 300,000 refugees, diplomatic support, and the provision of military equipment. Černochová also stated that the Czech Republic will honor its NATO spending commitment and will spend 2 percent of its GDP on defense by 2025.
“We cannot give in to Russian aggression and the war criminal Putin,” Černochová insisted, assuring Austin, whom she invited to Prague, that Czechia is ready to send more military equipment to Ukraine.
The U.S. minister said the meeting with Černochová had come at a critical moment for European security due to Russia’s unprovoked aggression in Ukraine, and praised Czechia’s assistance to Ukraine and highlighted the Czech involvement in the alliance group in Slovakia.
Czech authorities are searching for alternative facilities to accommodate refugees with larger families, often Ukrainian Roma, who have refused to split up and reside in typical accommodations.
More than 2,000 Ukrainian Roma have headed to the Czech Republic since the beginning of the Russian invasion, according to data from the country’s Interior Ministry. However, regional registration centers have had trouble finding suitable accommodation for the minority group and as a result, many Roma families have so far ended up in former detention centers.
“We are looking for larger properties to provide them with decent accommodation,” said Interior Minister Vít Rakušan in an interview with Deník N newspaper.
According to Rakušan, two groups of Roma are arriving — those with only a Ukrainian passport and those with a Hungarian passport or with two passports. Rakušan clarified that those with Hungarian passports have no claims to protection as it applies exclusively to war refugees from Ukraine.
“If someone who only has a Hungarian passport arrives, they are told that they have no claim to protection or social benefits, whether they are Roma or not,” the interior minister added. “We are in the Schengen area, so holders of Hungarian passports can travel however they want, but without any claims to social assistance.
“Those with two passports — and this may have come across as discriminatory — go through a different process. They must be further checked and identified, so we can see that they are of Ukrainian nationality and not Hungarian. That takes more time.”
Rakušan spoke about a local case in which a group of Hungarian Roma people arrived in the Olomouc Region and abused the social benefits system.
“They registered here and then traveled back home, claiming that they will return next month for the next social benefits payment. This is a thing that we want to solve systematically. So, nobody, not just the Roma, tries to abuse the system for benefits. We want to, in cooperation with the ministry of labor and social affairs, come up with a directive that would minimize the abuse of benefits.”
Czechia’s welfare state is the most generous
Rakušan noted that most refugees do not abuse the system and are thankful for any help, adding that there are only a few dozen cases of abuse compared to roughly 300,000 newly-arrived refugees.
“We set it up so everyone instantly gets 5,000 korunas (€205) so they can take care of themselves. We are the most generous country in this regard. The Poles give roughly 1,200 korunas (€49). We relied on the arrival of people who do not want to abuse the system,” Rakušan explained.
The Czech interior minister said that over 2,000 Roma people have now arrived in the country, noting that not all of them have registered.
“Those who have Hungarian passports and thus no claim to protection have not been registered. We have no right nor reason to put them into any database. They are citizens of Hungary who traveled to Czechia, where they asked for temporary protection as refugees and were told, in conjunction with the European and Czech law, that they have no claim to it. We cannot count this group. At one point this group caused some concern in the regions because they did not know how to deal with them,” Rakušan added.
The government minister answered a question about the special governmental decree concerning these groups.
“We did it based on talks with Roma NGOs and government officials responsible for minorities. We all agreed on it. Based on the decree, we can find and rent properties suitable for Romany. They need to be housed in large groups with specific eating habits, ideally with some outdoor space. So far, we have found two properties. That is less than we expected. We wanted five properties which could house a total of 500 to 600 people,” stated Rakušan.
“Some of those properties were suitable for larger groups to stay together. There were individual excesses in the regional registration centers when they refused to register or accommodate the Roma. I know that a group of 150 people appeared in Moravia in the evening or late in the night and the regional registration center reacted nervously. They did not know where to put them and according to my sources, they closed the whole center down before they got any information on where to send those people. I very much do not approve of such a procedure. I talked to the people from the registration centers, and I told them that it cannot work this way,” Rakušan said.
“Anger or chaos?” was the headline France’s Marianne magazine editors chose to publish ahead of the second round of the French presidential election.
However, Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský, the magazine’s main shareholder, saw it differently and changed it to: “Despite anger, avoid chaos,” in a headline change which clearly sympathizes with the incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron. Employees objected to this in a statement issued on Tuesday, however, according to the editor-in-chief, it was a simple editorial change.
The revised headline for the magazine issue toi be released today, just days before the second round election vote, caused a stir. The photo remained the same — focused on the eyes of the two candidates, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. But the message is completely different.
According to the editors, this amounts to an interference with the independence of the media.
“This intervention by our majority owner, Daniel Křetínský, represents a serious attack on Marianne’s editorial independence,” Marianne Society of Editors wrote in a statement. “It happened even though (Křetínský) personally, and even twice, promised the journalists that he will respect this basic principle. Until now, he has done so.”
Communiqué de la société des rédacteurs de Marianne (SRM) à propos d'une intervention de l'actionnaire principal sur la "Une" du journal pic.twitter.com/yEnCUD13ZX
— Société des rédacteurs de Marianne (@SRM_Marianne) April 19, 2022
This statement was shared by Marine Le Pen who thanked the journalists for drawing attention to editorial interventions in the media. The editorial staff of Marianne however refused any idea that they want to side with anyone, according to Czech news outlet Irozhlas.
Merci aux journalistes de Marianne de révéler l’influence de l’argent sur les choix éditoriaux des médias.
Les Français ne sont pas dupes de la campagne de mensonge et de diffamation que nous subissons depuis que nous sommes aux portes de l’Élysée. https://t.co/GmpeeGDfYE
On Wednesday, the editor-in-chief of Marianne, Natacha Polony, released a statement in which she claimed the editorial management decided on the change independently. The Thursday issue will thus be released with the headline: “Despite anger, avoid chaos.”
Polony justified the headline “with respect to the citizens’ extreme dissatisfaction with the system.” She added that this has provoked support for Le Pen whose rise could “cause disorder and deepen disagreements” often evident in French society. When choosing the headline, she considered both the opinion of the editorial board and of the CMI group in which Křetínský is a majority shareholder.
Křetínský also owns a part of the French Le Monde daily and has a 5 percent share in the TF1 broadcast network. Křetínský has not made any comments on the issue.
After groups of Muslims rampaged through Swedish cities, set police vehicles on fire, hurled stones at police, and injured 26 officers on Easter weekend, German public-funded media giants ARD and ZDF pointed to Sweden’s “problem with right-wing extremism.”
On Twitter, ZDF wrote to its followers that there were “riots at right-wing demos” in the city of Malmö.
The ZDF article attached to the Twitter posts reads: “After the approval of right-wing rallies, there were riots again in Sweden during the night.” Only far below in the article are readers informed that there were “clashes” between “counter-demonstrators” and the police, with no mention that these “counter protesters” were Muslim-Arab youthsm, with many of them screaming on video “Allahu Akbar” while setting police vehicles on fire.
To the uninformed reader, the riots actually involved right-wing extremists attacking police.
The article seems to be an attempt by the ZDF to downplay the role of Muslims in yet another public disturbance in the already highly-troubled immigrant neighborhoods in Swedish cities.
In Germany, all residents are forced to pay license fees into ARD and ZDF, which are both networks known for their extreme left-wing bias.
While the extremely small far-right Danish group Stram Kurs did threaten to burn the Quran publicly in Sweden, the police are saying that the Muslims involved in the rioting only used the burnings as a pretext for their real goal, which was attacking the police and rioting.
‘Young people’ riot
The ARD’s “Tagesschau” follows the same tact as ZDF, writing: “In Sweden there were violent protests in several cities on Saturday evening and Sunday night after a right-wing extremist party was allowed to hold rallies.”
Whether the violence occurred at the right-wing “rallies” or came from the counter-protests is left an open question for readers of the article. Tagesschau simply refers to the Muslim rioters — who are screaming “Allahu Akbar” on video — as “young people.”
Neither paper referred to the ample amount of video of the attacks that have been posted across social media and which are available through the Associated Press.
The only hint that Arab-Islamic youths had anything to do with the unrest in Sweden is a quote at the end of the Taggesschau article, in which Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Saifuddin Abdullah spoke out and criticized the burning of the Quran before calling for “peaceful coexistence.”
Other German-language outlets had even more egregious content on the riots, with the Austrian online portal OE24 headline for a video reading: “Riots in Malmö: right-wing extremists set fire to a bus.” This is an outright lie. No right-wing extremists were involved in any of the rioting or arson attacks over the weekend.
Czech armament companies will repair Ukrainian military equipment, with the first contract already signed for the restoration of T-64 tanks, the Czech Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday.
In the future, repairs may be extended to BTR and BRDM wheeled armor.
“The Czech Republic was the first partner country that the Ukrainian side officially approached with a request for mutual cooperation between Czech and Ukrainian companies in repairs of land equipment that needs to be made operational or that has been damaged during the fighting,” said Defense Minister Jana Černochová.
According to Jana Zeichmeisterová from the press department of the Czech Ministry of Defense, the office helps to arrange the service through the Agency of Intergovermental Defense Cooperation — the first contract will be awarded to the Czechoslovak Group for repairs of T-64 tanks.
Additional future contracts are possible
“Minor failures or combat damage will be repaired by Ukrainians. Czech aid consists mainly in the use of capacities for more extensive work and overhauls,” stated Zeichmeisterová. In the future, repairs may be extended to armored vehicles of BTR and BRDM type series and other companies may be involved in those,” she added.
Richard Kuběna, commercial director of the Land Systems division of the Czechoslovak Group, praised the efforts of the Czech Ministry of Defense. According to him, the administration and coordination associated with the project is very demanding.
Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is skeptical of proposals to establish a U.S. military base in the country, and has called for a public vote on the matter.
“We do not support it. I find it unnecessary,” Babiš told his social media followers. “I assume that this is a delicate topic, and it would be best to hold a referendum on it.”
Communists, members of the Freedom and Direct Democracy, and the Tricolor Citizens’ Movement are also against the proposal.
Babiš stated that he has no information about NATO desiring a U.S. base in the Czech Republic.
Minister of Defense Jana Černochová said on Friday that she would hold talks with her U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin in the United States after Easter. According to Černochová, negotiations on the U.S. presence in the Czech Republic are also at stake and she wants to bring up that topic in the meeting as well.
The U.S. base in the Czech Republic could be in Přerov or Mošnov, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka on Sunday. The Ministry of Defense said on Sunday evening that specific locations are not being discussed.
‘Generally, I say yes to the U.S. base,’ Svoboda said.
Former foreign ministers, who attended the first day of the conference of the Institute of International Relations entitled “Multilateral Czechia” received a question from the iDNES.cz news outlet about the possibility of a U.S. military base in the Czech Republic.
“Every additional presence of the United States on the territory of an allied state increases the real interest of the United States in that country, so in general I say yes, but I do not know the specifics yet,” said former Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda.
Former Foreign Minister for the Social Democrats Lubomír Zaorálek called the debate premature, adding that he thinks that Mrs. Černochová is traveling to the United States without discussing the matter with anyone. According to Zaorálek, the transformed strategy against Russia will have to contain a new air defense doctrine from which tasks for individual member states will derive.
The chairman of the Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) Tomio Okamura rebuked the idea and unequivocally refused the presence of any foreign military on Czech territory, demanding a referendum on the matter.
“We support the modernization of Czech military and a change in strategy of our army towards the defense of our territory and citizens instead of its current usage as an expeditionary force for foreign missions,” stated Okamura on Sunday on his Facebook account.
