Czech Update

EU Skeptic Ideologue Praises 'Courageous' Czechs in a Newspaper that Once Supported Hitler's Annexation

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:12:00 -0500

Prominent UK right-winger, Peter Hitchens lays out the involved history of the Czech land in a typically tendentiously deranged piece of writing in the Daily Mail, a newspaper once vocal in its support of Mussolini, Hitler and the annexation of Czechoslovakia. Today, Hitchens has the gall to go to Prague and pretend that Czechs are the only thing standing in the way of totalitarian rule from Brussels. At every turn, he dips into any available pocket of intellectual dishonesty to deliver his predictably venomous anti-EU diatribe.

PETER HITCHENS: How the Czechs are fighting the marshmallow EU tyrant | Mail Online All the great conflicts of Europe have swept violently through this dark, beautiful and sinister city.

Image via Wikipedia

It is entertaining that Hitchens brings his bile to bear even on the matter of his visual perception. Today's Prague is anything but dark or sinister. Full of brightly-colored buildings and artificially lit up at night, it is the closest thing you can find to a Disneyland without paying an entrance fee. But worse is yet to come.

The Second World War can be said to have started here, with Hitler's first occupation of a non-German capital, in March 1939. Many of the battles of the Cold War left blood on the cobblestones.

Now another great struggle - between the European superstate and the very idea of national independence - is being fought in Prague.

To compare Nazi occupation with EU membership would be hilarious if it wasn't so nausiatingly inappropriate coming from someone whose countrymen were once instrumental in letting Hitler have his way with Czechoslovakia's independence and then proceeded 6 years later to allow Stalin draw the line of influence just west of Prague.

You might call it the Battle Of The Flag. Look up at the majestic castle on its hill and you can just see it, proud on its solitary staff.

It is the personal standard of President Vaclav Klaus, a rather lovely piece of Continental blazonry with the fine motto 'Truth Prevails' inscribed upon it.

Every other official building in the city flies the dreary European Union dishcloth - but not the castle. Why ever not?

Well the answer is simple, president Klaus, the Thatcherite Eurosceptic populist who travels the world lecturing world leaders on the 'myth' of global warming doesn't like the EU. It is not surprising that Hitchens would feel an affinity with this man who is considered by many to be an embarrasment for the country and maintains his popularity by rabid nationalism. But most Czechs are genuinely proud of their EU presidency and have always seen EU membership as the accomplishment of their struggle for freedom rather than a threat to their independence. They like Klaus' blowhard posturing but would be violently opposed to the consequences of his foreign policy ideas. Hitchens latches onto Klaus' supposed heroism like a right-wing limpet citing Klaus's meaningless mantras like 'But it is post-democracy, really, that rules the EU.'

And post-democracy is not democracy - Czechs are especially good at spotting the difference between the real thing and counterfeits, having been told under communism that they lived in a 'democracy' when they most certainly didn't.

Yes, Czechs are good at spotting the difference and that's why they don't think the current situation is anything like the communist rule. Some might succumb to regionalist nationalism but those sentiments are just as imported as their purported democratic ideals. Hitchens sucks up to KIaus' adviser Mach:

'Democracy cannot work in a supranational state,' Mach explains. 'We feel we must permanently fight for our freedom and national sovereignty. This fight is never won for ever.'

Well, this is nonsense. I'm constantly amazed how thoroughly ignorant the EU haters are of the situation in the US which is much more of a supranational state than people admit - deceived by English as the prevailing medium of communication. How about the issues of 'states' rights' in the US, different customs, traditions, extradition laws, speed limits, death penalty, and so on? We don't see it from over here, but the US is much more like the EU than it might seem. But Hitchens in all his patronising splendour sees the fact that there is no border check on his train ride from Berlin to Prague (widely applauded by all Czechs) as a signal that the end is near:

And so it is that for the fourth time in a century, the poor Czechs are about to see their independence snuffed out because it is inconvenient to greater powers in a vast continental scheme.

Repeatedly invaded, occupied, suppressed, Germanised one year, Russified the next, their survival is amazing. But the threat of absorption into an EU superstate menaces the Czechs, perhaps more permanently than before.

This 'menace' is only real in as much as it will deprive Hitchens of a country to safely ignore until he needs to make another tendentiously predictable point. As part of the EU, the Czechs have much more of a say than they ever did and are safer from takeover than they were in 1939, and 1948 and 1968 when the likes of Hitchens in the West were advocating throwing us to the wolves as an acceptable sacrifice.

The sticky, marshmallow bonds of the EU are obviously not the iron shackles of the old dictators. But they are bonds all the same, and once they are in place, the Czechs will have little to distinguish them from their neighbours apart from their beer, their literature, their music and their complex language.

From having been a country, they will become a regional oddity in a state called Europe.

Perhaps we should remind Hitchens of the words of his compatriots like Shakspeare who ascribed a coast to the landlocked Bohemia and Neville Chamberlain who refused to care about a 'far away country' of which he 'knew little' and cared less. The truth is, since about the mid 1400s, Czech have been a regional oddity in Europe distinguished from the rest by 'beer, literature, music and language' and they know it. In fact, they're pretty proud of that. The EU can hardly make it worse but it has the potential to give them a voice - like these six months of EU presidency or the hosting of NATO summits - that they would have previously been denied. Hitchens living in a country deriving much of its relevance from its morally ambiguous colonial past doesn't see that it is separatism that starts the slide into irrelevance not being part of a bigger whole.

We may imagine that this fate will not overtake us, safe as we foolishly think we are beyond the Channel. But, as happened once before, the fate of the Czechs is inextricably linked with our own.

Their courage alone cannot save us. But if we showed some backbone, we might save them, and ourselves as well.

Well, Peter, good luck! But please next time use your own country to weave your metaphors of EU doom. Or at least have the decency to start with an apology for the role your land and newspaper have played in our 'dark' history you're so eager for us not to repeat. As it is, the Czechs as nation collectively wish you had 'showed some backbone' 70, 60 and again 40 years ago and saved us from some real threats. Being patronised through faint praise today is hardly going to make up for it.

Greased Lightbox

→←+-↻

Loading image

Click anywhere to cancel

Image unavailable

Czech Studies teaching job at Glasgow University

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:23:47 -0400

An interesting job in teaching Czech!

Glasgow University is looking for a new Lecturer in Czech Studies

The University of Glasgow is advertising a new permanent position of Lecturer in Czech Studies. The successful candidate will have native or near-native knowledge of Czech, will be fluent in English, will have a postgraduate qualification, will be a charismatic teacher, and as a research scholar, he/she will have proven ability to attract outside research funding.

The salary will be on the Research and Teaching grade, level 7, £30,013 - £33,780 per annum.

Further particulars HERE

Czech children not poor, but have emotional problems - UNICEF

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 04:45:00 -0500

Czech children not poor, but have emotional problems - UNICEF Czech children do not suffer from poverty and they have good health care and education as compared to children from some two tens of developed countries, but they have more problems in relations with parents and peers, according to a study that UNICEF released today.

Czech Republic came 11th in the overall score beating USA, France and UK (all three often featured as role models in socio-economic areas). Czechs were 11th, 10th and 9th in financial position, health and education respectively and it's infant mortality rates are one of the lowest but their overall ranking was brought down by "assessment of relations between children and their peers, and children and their parents." where CR scored 19th (ahead only of UK and US). Here are some other quotes from the article about the report.

The Czech Republic is among the states with a rather high number of incomplete families. Czech 15-year-old children have lunch and dinner with their parents less often than children from the other countries. On the other hand, Czech children chat with their parents more often than other children. Though Czech children were rather satisfied with their lives, the country placed 17th in children's subjective assessment. The study shows that some 7 percent of children aged under 17 live below poverty level in the Czech Republic. The country placed 7th. Czech children were nevertheless the richest by the number of the books. Only 2 percent of Czech 15-year-old children said that their family had fewer than ten books at home. The Czech Republic has the highest percentage (14 percent) of children aged 11, 13 and 15 who smoke at least once a week. Some 14 percent of children also got drunk at least twice. Nearly one in five 15-year-old children had sex.

But among all the complaining about our emotional well-being, it is perhaps easy to forget that...

More than half the world's children are suffering extreme effects of poverty, war and HIV/Aids, denying them a healthy and safe childhood

Applicants for Czech visas to need fingerprints in 2008

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:00:05 -0500

Applicants for Czech visas to need fingerprints, photographs - Prague Daily Monitor Fingerprints and photographs of applicants for Czech visas coming from countries which do not have visa-free relations with the Czech Republic and other EU countries will start to be gradually taken at diplomatic missions as from August 2008, the Czech Foreign Ministry told CTK today.

The visa empire strikes back. But making it more difficult for people to visit is probably the price Czech Republic has to pay for being in the EU. (Although, the old bureaucratic procedures are easy to resurrect.)

The Czech Republic will join the Schengen area within which no borders and border checks exist between EU member states on December 31, 2007.

Czechs practice unsafe sex

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:31:40 -0500

Czechs practice unsafe sex - Prague Daily Monitor Young Czechs practice unsafe sex, according to a Mladá fronta Dnes survey. Out of 139 young people questioned, 60 percent indicated that they don't use condoms. Most of them indicated that they are not afraid of contracting HIV, the virus which causes AIDS. There are currently 920 registered HIV cases in the country, but medical experts say that number could be five times higher. They say HIV cases continue to rise each year. There were 93 new cases last year.

Earlier last year MF Dnes reported that only about a third of young people use a condom during their first sexual encounter. Experts put it down to educational insufficiency. Sex ed lessons, they say, are too dry, and only present information without allowing students to debate the relevant issues.

Czechs give go-ahead for US 'son of star wars' base

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 08:06:41 -0500

Czechs give go-ahead for US 'son of star wars' base | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited The Czech government has announced that it wants to host a large US military site for the Pentagon's much-criticised missile shield system, confirming for the first time that Washington had asked Prague for permission to build a radar site for the national missile defence programme.

Not much to say. The long fascination of the Czech Republic with the US continues. Of course, there's also the visa problem...

New property law raises expectations of Brit influx

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 20:31:40 -0500

News - Check out Czech Republic for property investment - Real Estate TV A change in VAT laws in the Czech Republic is set to see an increase in the number of Britons investing in the country, according to a spokesperson for Property Secrets.

The VAT rule alterations, due to come into effect in 2008, coupled with the accelerated growth in the economy are set to drive property investment in the Czech Republic in the next few years.

What more can be said? The number of Brits coming to the Czech Republic is not insubstantial already but it is till unlikely it will ever compete with the likes of Spain and France for the expatriate settler dollar.

Czech sporting heros honored

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 18:28:28 -0500

Neumannová named Czech athlete of the year - International Herald Tribune PRAGUE, Czech Republic: Kateřina Neumannová, who won the women's 30-kilometer cross-country race at the Turin Olympics, was chosen as the Czech Republic's athlete of the year for 2006 on Sunday in a poll of sports journalists. New York Rangers forward Jaromír Jágr, who won the award in 2005, was second. Lukáš Bauer, who took silver in the 15-kilometer cross-country race in Turin, was third. Martina Navratilová, who defected from her Czech homeland in 1975 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981, was named a Czech sports legend on Sunday.

Sports personalities are incredibly important to the consciousness of nation. Even after years or even decades after retirement they still command attention of the media. These four names will probably live on for quite a while even though three out of the four are over 30.

President says EU membership brought little to Czech Republic

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 17:00:14 -0500

Czech president says EU membership brought little to Czech Republic, Slovakia - International Herald Tribune BRATISLAVA, Slovakia: Czech President Václav Klaus said Thursday he believes that the accession of his country and neighboring Slovakia to the European Union has brought little benefits to the two countries.

Not surprising given the strong Thatcherite leanings combined with increasingly strident nationalistic populism of the president (biased view of mine). He is also, true to form, against the REACH environmental regulation coming from the EU.

Cultural impact of change in Czech TV news schedule

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 11:32:31 -0500

Change in Czech TV main news time benefits Nova - 10-01-2007 - Radio Prague Many Czechs catch their television news in the early evening, between 7 and 8 o'clock. But which particular news programmes they choose to watch has changed somewhat since the New Year, when Czech Television brought its main evening news forward by 15 minutes. The change also affects hundreds of thousands of Czech children, as a popular animated programme also starts earlier. It is interesting, if not surprising, how important TV schedules are for the cultural patterns of a nation. For Czech, culturally particularly important time is between 7 and 8 pm which is a transition between children's time and adult time. Children watch their 10-minute evening story - Večerníček, and then adults watch the news (boring for children) and than at 8 pm the main adult (as in not for children, not pornographic) programming starts when children go to bed. So a change of even as little as 15 minutes can have quite an impact on individuals' lives. Particularly when it comes down to the institution of Večerníček (so important it even has its own Wikipedia entry):

Večerníček is a daily animated children's programme which has become a national institution since its first broadcast, way back in 1965. Czech TV are now showing it a quarter of an hour earlier, to allow for the earlier news programme. But the station's spokesman says there have been extremely few complaints.

New government - at least for a month

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:52:01 -0500

Czech bid to end political crisis - CNN.com PRAGUE, Czech Republic (Reuters) -- Czech President Vaclav Klaus named a new government led by rightist Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek on Tuesday as the EU member tries to extract itself from a seven-month crisis sparked by an inconclusive election. Topolanek has formed a three-party coalition with the centrist Christian Democrats, the Green Party and his own rightist Civic Democrats. But the grouping has only 100 seats in the 200-seat parliament, while leftists also control 100 seats, the results of an inconclusive election last June. The constitution calls for a confidence vote to be held within 30 days but Topolánek has said he would move faster.

We'll see how long the government will last but it seems that Czechs have been managing without it quite nicely. As this Independent article points out. The outlook is not particularly rosy: IOL: New Czech government unlikely to end crisis But analysts said even if Topolanek gets the simple majority needed to survive the vote, the hung parliament will make it difficult for him to push through his programme of tax and spending reforms, welfare cuts and new healthcare user fees.

More Czech beer in the US

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:49:08 -0500

KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington - Business - Anheuser-Busch, Czech brewer strike deal Anheuser-Busch Cos. announced a deal Monday to distribute a beer brewed by Budejovicky Budvar. Both companies stand to benefit from the deal. But they also say it won't end their century-old legal fight over the Budweiser trademark. The companies both claim exclusive rights to use the Budweiser name, and their trademark dispute has tied up courts throughout Europe. But even as the lawyers battle it out, the two brewers will share common ground in pushing Budvar's Czechvar Premium Czech Lager to nationwide distribution in the United States.

Czechvar is a funny name since var means 'brew' so, Czechbrew would be better but still...

Czech nuclear power to all households

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 09:31:40 -0500

Proud z Dukovan by letos nasytil všechny domácnosti - iDNES.cz Jaderná elektrárna Dukovany letos vyrobila nejvíc elektřiny ve své jednadvacetileté historii. Produkce ráno poprvé převýšila hranici 14 miliard kilowatthodin. Právě takové množství proudu spotřebují za rok všechny domácnosti v Česku, přiblížil mluvčí elektrárny Petr Spilka.

The 21-year-old Czech nuclear powerplant Dukovany exceeded 14 billion kiloWatt hours this year. Which is enough to supply all Czech households with electricity. Its newer counterpart, the controversial plant, Temelín produces slightly less (11 billion) but has larger capacity. Most of the rest of electrical energy comes through coal-burning power-plants and along with a smaller number of hydropower plants.

Magor book of 2006

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 21:40:49 -0500

www.lidovky.cz - Kniha roku 2006 Dvacet čtyři hlasů pro Magorovy dopisy je proto úspěch nesporný. Jejich autorovi Ivanu M. Jirousovi můžeme blahopřát i k tomu, že se od obnovení ankety LN v roce 1991 stává prvním, kdo pomyslný titul Kniha roku získává podruhé (v roce 1998 za Magorovu summu).

Magor, an underground generation poet and celebrated crazy man, beat Kundera in the annual Book of the Year poll conducted by Lidové Noviny. His book of letters he wrote from prison in the 70s and 80s gave him a unique second win since 1991. Havel's interview came in fourth place. Another notable tidbit was that this year nearly 16,000 titles came out in the Czech Republic this year.

New Year brings new logos

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 21:41:25 -0500

V Česku letos mizely lokální značky - iDNES.cz Češi si musejí zvykat na nové názvy firem, nová loga a firemní barvy. Letošní rok byl totiž ve znamení velkých změn, a to především v oblasti telekomunikací. Loga Vodafone vystřídala na billboardech Oskara a Český Telecom s Eurotelem zaplavily bubliny O2

Some names that have become part of the national consciousness recently and others that have been part of the scene for decades will be with us no more next year. Czech Telecom and Eurotel (its mobile branch) have become Telefónica O2, and Oskar, the third mobile operator, was gobbled up by Vodafone. Much further back goes the brand of Živnostenská banka (Small business bank) which first appeared in 1868 but became UniCredit Bank. Anybody who ever commuted on Czech buses will know the brand Karosa. It will now become Iveco. Spain, UK and Italy have thus become the most influential countries in Czech commercial iconography this year.

Czech 'YouTube' to come out of Beta with Gynecology 2

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 07:15:23 -0500

Český „YouTube“ nabízí seriál od Čtvrtníčka - iDNES.cz Na začátku příštího roku se má oficiálně rozjet český server, který nabídne podobné služby jako populární YouTube. Vedle možnosti zveřejnit zde svá videa se případní uživatelé mohou těšit i na původní tvorbu. Svá videa zde mají podle plánu vydávat studenti filmových škol, místo bude i na zprávy či reportáže.

New Year will bring a new online service to the Czech internet to challenge YouTube called Stream.cz. And to draw new audiences it starts with an original show called Gynekologie 2 (Ob-gyn 2) which is a very funny parody of medical dramas with only slightly lascivious content. Stream.cz differs from YouTube in several important respects: it features (at least for now) very professional-looking content created for the site by film students, the quality of transmission is high, live content is planned (mostly transmissions from night clubs), concert footage, news, etc. Not all the videos require Czech, such as this short film on Brutal Ping Pong or this animated gruesome take on What was left out of fairytales. On the downside, there is no way to fastforward or backtrack in the videos and, at least, from the UK, the videos would freeze up before the end. But I assume this will improve once the beta phase is over.

Jára Cimrman to bring new Czech heaven

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 07:53:23 -0500

Cimrmanův divadelní kšaft - www.lidovky.cz Zdeněk Svěrák a Ladislav Smoljak chystají patnáctou hru, kterou by chtěli oslavit podzimní čtyřicítku Divadla Járy Cimrmana. Nová hra by se mohla jmenovat České nebe s podtitulem Cimrmanův dramatický kšaft.

It is characteristic of many things in the Czech psyche that the greatest Czech of all time [also here], as measured by Czech TV's remake of BBC's 100 Greatest Brittons, never existed. It was Jára Cimrman who will celebrate 40 years of non-existence next year. And his 'discoverers', now revered Czech cultural icons themselves, have just announced they are planning to uncover the 15th lost play by this intellectual giant. The play may be called 'Czech Heaven' and with any luck will open in the fall of 2007. This is big news! Roughly on the scale of announcing the new Star Wars. Unlike the Star Wars, though, this is unlikely to disappoint. Want know why? Read this account by an American of the Czech hero's appeal who sums it up pretty well:

I will never be able to fully appreciate Cimrman the way the Czechs do. For him, he is a representation of their entire history all rolled up into one person, even if that persona is fictional. The Czechs were always there, being one of the most important and loyal provinces of the Hapsburg Empire, they helped start the Protestant Reformation long before Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of the catherdral, many of the greatest minds in art and science resided or were born in Czech lands (Kafka, Freud, Mozart all either were born in or lived at some point in Czech lands, and good king Wenceslas's real name was Václav, who was a Czech king), Bohemia was one of the most industrially advanced regions of Europe for much of the early part of the 20th century and during the Cold War serviced almost all of the Warsaw Pact's armor and weapons needs. Basically, the Czechs were always involved in great things and movements, but they almost never received credit or recognition for what they accomplisehd; just like Cimrman. Someone always held the patent on that darn lightbulb, or someone was always just five mintues ahead of them.

More immigration, birth + fewer deaths, abortions = population increase

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 07:33:24 -0500

V Česku žije stále víc lidí, především díky cizincům - iDNES.cz K nárůstu počtu Čechů přispělo i snížení počtu provedených a samovolných potratů. V prvních třech čtvrtletích 2006 lékaři provedli o 815 interrupcí méně než ve stejném období roku 2005. Statistici to mimo jiné vysvětlují trendem posunout plodnost žen do pozdějšího věku.

The title says it all. The preoccupation with population in the Czech press continues although the tone is shifting to cautious optimism. Most encouraging is the decrease in abortions which have historically been considered a legitimate substitute for other forms of birth control.

News: Czech Republic to join Schengen by end of 2007

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 07:38:43 -0500

The Prague Post Online: News: Czech Republic to join Schengen The Czech Republic will enter the Schengen border-free zone a year from now, following the European Commission's (EC) recent reversal of its earlier decision to postpone entry for new European Union members until well into 2008. "This means that Europe will soon no longer be divided into two parts," Interior Minister Ivan Langer told reporters Dec. 5.

This issue was felt very keenly by many Czechs who felt like "second-class" citizens. (Although, Britain isn't a part of Schengen either.) It was also interesting that Langer, when he learned that Slovakia might not be ready for the change, was ready to introduce border patrols on the Czech-Slovak border - although that border is much easier to pass than the Czech-German border. Shows that the new countries are willing to lobby together but not to fall together.

First Czech University to open campuses abroad

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:36:22 -0500

Liberec Tech. becomes first Czech University to open campuses abroad - 13-12-2006 - Radio Prague The Technical University of Liberec has announced it is opening two branches in Vietnam. It's thought to be the very first time a Czech University has set up campuses abroad. Petr Louda, dean of the Mechanical Faculty, explained how the plans came about.

Don't really know what to say about it. It is another example of how being in the EU can be an advantage. Liberec is my hometown but I never thought of the university as particularly important, although it is pretty good in its fields - engineering and textile engineering. Also, I did meet a woman, school director in a small town called Mamurras in Albania who had visited the university on an exchange program.

Ruzyně, the Prague airport breaks a passenger record

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:17:46 -0500

Letištěm v Ruzyni poprvé prošlo 11 milionů cestujících - iDNES.cz Pražské letiště v Ruzyni přepsalo další rekord. Ve středu dopoledne jím prošel cestující, který završil počet letos odbavených pasažérů na rovných 11 milionů.

The Prague airport has served 11 million passengers already this year. To put it in perspective, it is as if every single Czech (including little babies) has used it at least once!

Dumpling News Weekly - Czechs in America

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 12:46:46 -0500

Internet newsletter offers Czech-American news, hard-to-find products - 12-12-2006 - Radio Prague Numerous newspapers and magazines serve the Czech community in the United States, from "nationwide" publications such as Americke listy to regional titles like Czech Nebraska. There are also several internet websites and email newsletters, such as the weekly Dumpling News; it is produced by Zora Pergl, a woman of Czech descent based in Florida. I asked her how Dumpling News has been received since its launch in April last year.

An interesting interview. See www.thedumplingnews.com for more. Among all sorts of announcements you will find an English translation of the Czech national anthem including the music - all on the front page. Other links include information on Czech traditions such as how to celebrate Czech Christmas.

Over 300,000 foreigners living in the Czech Republic make up 2.5%

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:58:23 -0500

More than 300,000 foreigners live in Czech Republic -- CSU Prague- A total of 310,000 foreigners have lived in the Czech Republic by the end of September, including foreigners who have applied for asylum in the country, Bohdana Hola from the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) told journalists. The number of foreigners in the country has grown by almost 30,000 in the first nine months of this year. Foreigners thus make up about 2.5 percent of the country's population, Hola said.

This is pretty amazing by recent historical standards although negligible by World standards. Neighboring Austria and Germany have much higher populations of "foreigners". The homogeneity of Czech population is hard to imagine for someone used to diverse environments - and it brings both benefits and challenges.

Ukrainians is the largest group of foreigners in the Czech Republic - 98,438 of them have legally lived in the country by the end of September. Almost 98,000 foreigners have come from European Union countries. Slovaks are the third largest group of foreigners - about 56,000, followed by Vietnamese - more than 39,000.

Of course, the Slovaks hardly count in terms of impact on cultural diversity. Hopefully, immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria will mix things up a bit. I'm just writing an article about the pre-WWII period and the impact Russian emigrants has on the Czech linguistic community - the result was the Prague Linguistic Circle - one of the most influential schools of linguistic thought in the last century.

Foreigners to make up for lacking Czech medical staff - minister

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 13:20:16 -0500

Foreigners to make up for lacking Czech medical staff - minister Prague- The Health Ministry is considering inviting foreigners, from new EU countries for instance, to fill vacancies in the Czech Republic's health sector that lacks mainly anaesthesiologists and rescuers, Minister Tomas Julinek (Civic Democrats, ODS) has told Czech Radio.

It will be interesting to see how Czech not used to people from other cultures will react to this. But it will be an important first step to opening the Czech culture. Of course, it should also be a boon to Czech language teachers.

Theiving devils and burnt hands brought by Mikuláš

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 05:31:45 -0500

Mikuláš přinesl loupící čerty i popálené ruce - iDNES.cz Během úterního řádění čertů a nadělování dárků dětem hodnými Mikuláši se 59letý muž z Plzně setkal s pekelníky, kteří ho pravděpodobně okradli. Pod záminkou, že ztrestají "nehodného" člověka, mu zřejmě přímo z kapsy odcizili mobilní telefon. V Praze se zase při házení petard popálil školák.

Among all the merriment there were also some less festive happenings to be reported on. A group of 'devils' stole a mobile phone from a man in Plzeň and a boy received burns on his hands when throwing firecrackers in Prague. Nothing too serious, then, but still it made a nice headline.