Radio Prague International - latest articles

According to an analysis of the mobile data market published by the Czech Telecommunications Authority, retail prices for mobile data in Czechia are the highest in the EU. Czechs pay 150 percent more for mobile services than the EU average.

Municipal council elections are taking place in Czechia next Friday and Saturday and it’s not just Czechs who are eligible to vote but EU citizens too. But how exactly does one register? And is it possible to run in the elections as well? We took a closer look at how the process works.

Prague has its fair share of “secret” cafes and restaurants – places that you can only find if you know where to look. But La Paisanita, an Argentinian empanada eatery, probably takes the crown for the capital’s most hard-to-find food establishment. And despite the couple who run it actually coming from Argentina, a famously carnivorous country, it offers a majority meatless menu.

Some Like it Czech, a project introducing foreigners to local culture via movies, returns to Prague next week. The organisers say many of their visitors are mixed Czech-foreign couples – and plan to launch their second season with the 1990s classic Samotáři, or Loners. I spoke to the event’s co-founder Šarka Bekrová.

Czechoslovakia’s first president, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, died in the early hours of September 14, 1937, exactly 85 years ago. His funeral took place a week later in Prague and was attended by hundreds of thousands of people. Newly digitised recordings from Radio Prague International broadcasts recreate the atmosphere of the time.

Czech year-on-year inflation slowed in August, from 17.5 percent in July to 17.2 percent. This followed 13 months of continuous rises. Obviously inflation is still very high, but does this mean the Czech economy has finally turned a corner? I spoke to Cyrrus bank chief economist Vít Hradil.

Il Boemo has been selected as the Czech nomination in the Best International Film category in the Oscars. Petr Václav’s movie tells the story of composer Josef Mysliveček and will get its world premiere at the San Sebastian film festival this weekend.

Bořek Lizec is not just Czechia’s ambassador to Canada but also a man on a mission to track down the history of the many Czech communities in North America. He recently visited Radio Prague International’s studios to talk about Czechia’s search for Russian energy alternatives, as well as about his encounters with Canada’s Volhynian Czechs. I began by asking him what it is like to be an ambassador during a time of significant international tension brought about by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

This week sees the release of Good Old Czechs, a powerful new documentary about extremely brave Czech airmen in World War II. Entirely comprised of period footage and with narration read by actors, Tomáš Bojar's film draws on the memoirs of two aviators, RAF squadron leader František Fajtl and Filip Jánský, who initially escaped to France aged just 17. I spoke to Bojar ahead of Tuesday's premiere in Prague.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, there was some debate as to what to call her successor. Until then he was known as Princ Charles, but almost immediately news organisations translated the name and called him Král/King Karel. So why the change? I discussed the matter with well-known Czech linguist Karel Oliva: