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TOP 09 comes in first in mock student elections

The right-of-centre TOP 09 group has come in first in a mock election held at more than 430 Czech secondary schools on Wednesday and Thursday, three weeks before polls open for a real general election. TOP 09, which was part of the previous coalition government, received 17.8 percent of the mock vote, followed by the Pirate Party and ANO, a group founded by Czech multibillionaire Andrej Babiš. More than 50,000 secondary school students aged 15 and over took part in the voting, organized by the human rights NGO People in Need to popularize elections with first-time voters.

Ex-president Klaus calls on Czechs to leave EU

In his new book, former Czech president Václav Klaus calls for the Czech Republic to leave the European Union. In the book entitled “Decision Time” which is to be published next week, Mr Klaus argues that the EU deepened various negative features of the Czech society, politics and economy by overregulation, disregard for the sovereignty of national governments, and diminishing their responsibility. In an interview for the daily Mladá fronta Dnes on Thursday, Mr Klaus also called for a fundamental change in people’s thinking, similar to that which occurred after the fall of communism. Mr Klaus, whose second term as president expired in February, now heads his own Prague-based institute.

Czech politicians reject Klaus’ appeal to leave EU

In related news, Czech politicians have rejected Václav Klaus’ call for the country to withdraw from the EU. President Miloš Zeman said the EU was beneficial for the Czech Republic, and that the country’s membership was also beneficial for the EU. Mr Klaus’ views were also dismissed by the Social Democrats, the Civic Democrats, and other parties.

Survey: new legislation fails to curb public procurement corruption

New legislation introduced last year to curb corruption in public procurement has failed, suggests a new survey by the consultancy firm Otidea released on Thursday. 95 percent of companies which took part in the poll said they still encountered public procurement projects tailored to suit a particular bidder; meanwhile, around 70 percent of public officials said tenders were not more transparent than they were before the legislation came into force. The poll also suggests that one in six officials admitted to having accepted undervalued bids which have become a new strategy for companies to win public contracts.

EU to provide over 400 million in post-flooding aid

The Czech Republic is set to receive around 412 million crowns from the European Union’s Solidarity Fund to deal with damage caused by June’s massive flooding, Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn said on Thursday. The funding is yet to be approved by the European Parliament and EU member states. Along with Austria and Germany, the Czech Republic filed for aid in the wake of floods that hit Central Europe in June. In the Czech Republic, 15 people died in the flooding which inflicted damages of 16.4 billion crowns.

Monument to Havel unveiled at Georgetown campus

A memorial plaque to the former Czechoslovak and Czech president Václav Havel has been unveiled at the Georgetown University campus in Washington D.C. The plaque is situated next to a monument, created by the architect Bořek Šípek, and comprises of two wooden chairs under a linden tree. The former dissident and playwright’s second wife Dagmar Havlová, as well as some of his friends like the priest Tomáš Halík and former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright were present at the unveiling ceremony on Wednesday.

Former regional governor David Rath remains in custody

A court in Prague on Thursday rejected a request by former Central Bohemian governor David Rath to be released from custody. Mr Rath, a former prominent member of the Social Democrats, was arrested in May 2012 on corruption charges; he faces accusations of manipulating public contracts awarded by the region. Another defendant in the case, the former director of a central Bohemian hospital Kateřina Pancová, was released from custody last week. The trial against Mr Rath and 10 other people started in August, and is expected to conclude in the coming months.

Brno court rejects appeal over post-war property confiscation in south Moravia

A court in Brno on Thursday rejected an appeal by Mercedes Dietrichstein who demanded the return of her former family property confiscated after WWII on the basis of the so-called Beneš decrees. Ms Dietrichstein sued several public institutions which now own the property including the chateau in Mikulov but a court in Břeclav rejected the lawsuit three years ago. For several centuries, the Dietrichsteins were one of the most significant aristocratic families in Moravia. Their property was confiscated after the Second World War as Ms Dietrichstein’s father was a member of the pro-Nazi Sudetendeutsche Partei. In a separate lawsuit against the town of Mikulov, Mercedes Dietrichstein has asked for the return of her family crypt and other property located in the town. A court in Břeclav is scheduled to hear the case in November.

Municipal library in Milín named Czech Library of the Year

The municipal library in the central Bohemian village of Milín has been named the Library of the Year by the Czech Culture Ministry. At a ceremony in Prague on Thursday, the jury praised the library’s outreach and its role in the life of the community. In the village with 2,100 inhabitants, the library last year registered over 11,000 visits. The prize for significant IT improvement was awarded to the library in Litvínov, in northern Bohemia. The library in Hradec Králové was named the best city library of 2013.

Translation prize given for Czech edition of Bolaño novel

The Josef Jungmann prize for the best translation into Czech was awarded to Anežka Charvátová for her translation of Roberto Bolaño’s novel 2666 from Spanish. The Josef Jungmann prize has been given out annually since 1991 on the day of Saint Jerome, who is the patron saint of translators. At this year’s ceremony, Věra Koubová, who is best known for translations of Franz Kafka and Friedrich Nietzsche, was inducted into the hall of fame.

Czech scouts outraged by T-Mobile commercials

The Czech Association of Scouts and Guides has complained about a commercial campaign by the mobile phone operator T Mobile. In the series of video commercials launched in July, the firm pokes fun at the scouting movement whose members are presented as impractical and dull fools running around in the forest with phones and tablets, the association said. The operator has denied the claims, and said they had offered to sponsor the organization. However, the scout association said the firm never delivered on its promise.

Plastic People of the Universe mark 45th anniversary

The psychedelic rock band Plastic People of the Universe are marking their 45th anniversary with a concert in Prague on Thursday. The band was founded in the capital in September 1968. It was later banned by the communist authorities and its members were sentenced to prison terms in the 1970s which provoked the creation of the human rights manifesto Charter 77. The band, whose style is sometimes described as “dissident rock”, has recorded nine studio albums that were only officially released after the fall of communism.

CSKA beat Plzeň 3:2 in a Champions League match

CSKA Moscow defeated the Viktoria Plzeň football team 3:2 in a Champions League match in St. Petersburg on Wednesday night. This is Plzeň’s second match in the group stage of European football’s most prestigious competition. Having lost to Manchester City in their first game, the Czech title holders are now ranked last in their group. Plzeň will next play last season’s Champion League winners Bayern Munich in Germany.

Weather

The end of the week will be mostly clear before clouds and rain set in over the weekend. Daytime highs should range between 10 and 14 degrees Celsius.