Prague Monitor

Prague Daily Monitor Latvian Radio announced that Vladislav Kozák, the regional director of Škoda Transportation, was arrested on Thursday, by the Riga metropolitan police. Kozák is accused of bribery and corruption to the tune of EUR 800.000. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Aktuálně.cz reports that Petr Gazdík, the head of the Alliance of Mayors and Independents (STAN), will not seek a new term and hopes to finish his current term early, in April 2019. Gazdík intends to continue in politics as an MP but will use the time off to spend it with his family and young children. read more

Prague Daily Monitor René Zavoral, the Director of Czech Radio, chose not to extend the contract of Petr Fischer, the popular Head of the Vltava section, on Wednesday. Zavoral cited Fischer's failure to raise the listenership, amongst other reasons. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Amidst fears that the Senate would reject a bill passed in the Chamber of Deputies to limit the salary raise that national politicians would get from 2019 to 9%, the bill made it through the Senate on Wednesday. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Members of European Parliament debated PM Andrej Babiš' conflict of interest on Wednesday, as his firm Agrofert, continues to receive state and EU subsidies. Babiš has officially placed his ownership of the firm in a trust, while he is PM, but many MEPs and Czech MPs argue that this is not enough. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Czech Television reports that the D1 highway between Prague and Brno saw traffic jams that extended longer than 30 K.M. in the Vysocina region, on Wednesday afternoon and evening. Jams were reported in both directions, with stranded motorists waiting as long as 3 to 4 hours, before traffic started moving again. read more

Prague Daily Monitor iDNES.cz reports that Vratislav Mlynar, the former Chief of Staff of President Milos Zeman, will appear in court on December 19th, where he will challenge the National Security Authority's (NBU) decision not to grant him a security clearance. read more

Prague Daily Monitor The Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar (ANO) announced on Tuesday that his ministry would be spending CZK 1.5 billion over the next six years on the modernisation of its weaponry. According to Czech Television, the ministry intends to acquire new Mk-3 Bolide missiles, to be used in the army's RBS-70, anti-aircraft batteries, from 2020 to 2024. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Czech Television reports that interest by fathers of new born children in taking paternity leave was lower than expected in the year since the option has been introduced. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Czech Television reports that 20% of Czech employees suffer from Burnout Syndrome and are unable to cope with the emotional, mental and physical stress of modern working styles. Based on research by the Psychiatric Clinic of Charles University, the report states that people across age groups, occupations, hierarchies and genders are affected. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Respekt magazine reports that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), rejected an appeal filed by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, against a verdict of the Slovak Constitutional Court, which acknowledged his role as an informant of the former Czechoslovak Secret Police (STB). read more

Prague Daily Monitor Novinky.cz reports that MEP Jan Zahradil will lead the Civic Democrats at the European Parliamentary elections scheduled for May 2019. This is the fourth time that Zahradil will do so. Zahradil will also lead the European Conservatives and Reformists alliance, which the ODS is part of. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Justice Minister Jan Kněžínek (ANO) informed reporters on Monday that employees who worked at the ministry and those who were part of the country's legal system, would receive raises, starting January 2019. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Czech Television reports that the number of British citizens applying for Czech citizenship has increased dramatically, after the country voted to leave the European Union in a 2016 referendum. Only 5 applications for citizenship were received in 2015, from British citizens, but 42 were received in the year after. Another 220 people have applied for citizenship at the Czech Embassy in London, as of November 2018. read more

Prague Daily Monitor iDNES.cz reports that Prague is now the 20th most visited city in the world. Based on data released by research firm Euromonitor International, Prague saw 8,806,700 arrivals in 2017. This number is expected to grow to over 9 million people in 2018. read more