Radio Prague International - latest articles

The leaders of five opposition parties in the lower house on Wednesday announced their intention to initiate a vote of no-confidence in the minority government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. Although general elections are just five months away, the prime minister’s critics say it is important to test the degree of support the government has in the lower chamber.

The annual Prague Spring International Music Festival gets underway on Wednesday evening. In line with tradition, it opens with Smetana’s My Country. However, the performance, featuring a well-known early music ensemble Collegium 1704, is expected to be quite unusual.

Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib has raised the issue that foreign residents in the Czech Republic, who do not have public health insurance, are not able to register for the COVID-19 vaccine. He urged the Ministry of Health to sort out the situation fast, warning that this could lead to unprotected segments within the population.

With a proud history spanning over 200 years, the Becherovka herbal liquor is among the most famous alcoholic beverages produced in the Czech Republic. The recipe was famously created by the Becher family and remains a closely guarded secret to this day.

The European Union does not want to further escalate tensions with Moscow, the head of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Josep Borrell, said on Monday. The statement came after a meeting of EU foreign ministers ahead of which Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jakub Kulhánek called on EU member states to expel Russian diplomats in retaliation for the involvement of Russian Military Intelligence (GRU) in the 2014 Vrbětice explosions.

The annual One World festival of human rights documentary films got underway on Monday evening under the motto Connection Lost. The festival, which has moved entirely online due to Covid-19 restrictions, started by presenting its annual Homo Homini prize for human rights advocacy.

Scientists from Brno have been working on a unique project, mapping the changes of our landscape over the past century. In order to do so, they have been collecting old landscape paintings, which they subsequently compare to present-day photographs of the same place.

This Monday sees another wave of reopenings as part of the gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions in the Czech Republic. Shops and a wide range of services are now allowed to reopen for clients. Furthermore, Monday also sees the re-establishment of classroom teaching for elementary school students.

This week the British Embassy unveiled a plaque in memory of two British servicemen who took part in the Prague Uprising in 1945 and who saved many lives by their incredibly brave action. On the occasion of VE day the British ambassador to Prague, Nick Archer, granted Czech Radio an interview about the incredible feat of the two British servicemen, the ties that bind us and the security challenges of the present day. Jakub Lucký first asked him to tell the story of how Sargent Thomas Vokes and Private William Grieg devised a ploy that brought about the surrender of a German unit which posed a grave danger to the resistance fighters at the Czechoslovak Radio building.

Celebrations are underway in Pilsen to commemorate the city’s uprising against the Nazi occupation and liberation by American forces in May 1945.