Daily news summary

President Zeman accuses Norway’s Barnevernet of kidnapping children

President Milos Zeman has accused Norway’s child welfare organization Barnevernet of kidnapping children. In his regular interview from Lany chateau carried by Blesk TV, Mr Zeman said Barnevernet employed gangster-like practices and the Czech government should take stronger action, such as recalling the Czech ambassador to Norway for consultations. The president said the Norwegian ambassador to Prague was not welcome at Prague Castle and would not receive an invitation to his annual meeting with foreign ambassadors.

Ukraine protests against presence of Czech Communist Party deputies in Donetsk

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has protested against the presence of two Czech Communist Party deputies in Donetsk, an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Lower house deputies Zdeňek Ondráček and Stanislav Mackovík allegedly travelled to Donetsk from Russia. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says on its web page that this is a sign of disrespect for the sovereignty of Ukraine and has asked the Czech government and parliament to distance themselves from the initiative. According to the Czech Foreign Ministry neither the government nor parliament were informed about their plans. The Communist Party has denied organizing the trip, saying it must be a private visit. Ondráček is persona non grata in Ukraine, for having openly supported pro-Russian separatists.

Civic Democrats elect executive leadership

On the second day of its weekend conference the centre-right Civic Democratic Party elected a new executive leadership. For the first time in the party’s history there are two women in the top management - first deputy chairwoman Alexandra Udženija and deputy chairwoman Drahomíra Miklošová. Martin Kupka, Evžen Tošenovský and Miloš Vystrčil successfully defended their deputy posts. Petr Fiala was re-elected party leader by a strong majority on Saturday. The party’s immediate goal is to succeed in this year’s Senate and regional elections. Polls suggest it has the support of 8 to 9 percent of voters.

Fourteen people charged following raid at Spolchemie

Fourteen people have been charged following Friday’s police raid on the offices of the chemical company Spolchemie in north Bohemia. According to a statement on the webpage of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Prague the charges are linked to fraud in insolvency proceedings and attempts to influence judges at a court in České Budějovice. No further details have been released.

Thirteen people arrested in security operation Jupiter

Thirteen people were arrested in a security operation code-named Jupiter in which hundreds of officers in Prague combed bars, restaurants, motels and squats in search of missing people and stolen vehicles, Czech Radio reported on Sunday citing police sources. Among those detained was one person wanted by Interpol and another on whom there was a Czech arrest warrant. Altogether the police checked over 2,000 IDs and over 1,500 vehicles in the course of the past four days.

Czech children adopted abroad

In the past fifteen years 572 Czech children found adoptive parents abroad, according to information released by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. 379 of them were boys, 193 girls. The children found new homes predominantly in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Italy. Many of the children had been in children’s homes for over three years and the chance of finding adoptive parents for them in the Czech Republic was small.

Vojtěch Jasný presented Vladislav Vančura award for lifelong contribution to Czech cinematography

The Czech Film and Television Association FITES on Saturday presented its prestigious Vladislav Vančura award for lifelong contribution to Czech cinematography to film director Vojtěch Jasný, 90. Jasný was one of the first students of the Czech film academy FAMU in the field of photography and film direction 70 years ago. His films Desire (Touha, 1958) ,The Cassandra Cat (Až prijde kocour, 1963) and All My Good Countrymen (Všichni dobří rodáci 1968), are considered masterpieces of Czech cinema. All My Good Countrymen, which won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival for best director in 1969, was later banned by the communist regime. After the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Jasný fled to the West.