Stories from Quick Reads and Czech Republic
Investigative Journalists Report on Macedonian Government Official's Hidden Wealth
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), together with Macedonian Nova TV and the Czech Center for Investigative Journalism published an investigative piece about the amassed wealth of the head of Macedonian Secret Service Sasho Mijalkov, who also happens to be a first cousin to the current Prime Minister...
France, the Czech Republic and Greece Under Scrutiny for Their Treatment of Roma Community
On International Romani Day (April 8) the French branch of Amnesty International wrote a statement entitled “Facing a spiral of violence, the Roma of Europe are demanding justice and protection”. The statement is especially critical of the treatment of the Roma community in France, the Czech Republic and Greece [fr]:...
The Daily Lives of Sub-Saharan Immigrants in Prague
Chadian blogger Réndodjo Em-A Moundona [fr] writes about the daily lives of African immigrants in Prague [fr] : Une petite discussion avec ces Africains suffit pour se rendre à l´évidence que la communauté n´est ni menacée, ni totalement intégrée. Comme fille africaine, il est quasi impossible de trouver un travail conséquent [..] En général, les...
European Citizens Call for the Protection of Media Pluralism
“European institutions should safeguard the right to free, independent and pluralistic information”. The quote, from the Media Initiative website, summarizes the main idea behind a pan-European campaign that aims at urging the European Commission to draft a Directive to protect Media Pluralism and Press Freedom. The Media Initiative is running a European Citizens’ Initiative – a tool...
Czech Crime Boss Claims South African Police “Tortured” Him
Radovan Krejcir, an alleged Czech crime boss living in South Africa, was arrested on Friday, November 22, 2013, in Johannesburg on charges of kidnapping and attempted murder, although there are rumors on social media that other charges, such as money laundering and conspiracy, will be added to the list. Krejcir,...
Czech Republic: Anti-Roma Riots and Attacks on the Rise
The Romedia Foundation, a Romani non-governmental organization based in Budapest, wrote about anti-Roma demonstrations and rising attacks on the Roma population in recent months in the Czech Republic.
Czech PM Resigns Amid Sex Scandal
Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas steps down after his Chief of Staff and mistress, Jana Nagyova, is arrested on charges of bribery and corruption.
Parallels Between Religious and Copyright Wars
Rick Falkvinge, the founder of Pirate Party, reinterprets the wars of religion that devastated Western Europe in the XVI and XVII centuries in terms of the current struggle to control information through overbearing legislation related to copyright and freedom of expression: The religious wars were never about religion as such....
Czech Kids’ Anti-Roma Attitudes Not Discouraged
Jeremy Druker of TOL's East of Center writes about anti-Roma attitudes among school students in the Czech city of Jihlava: […] These kids obviously get their opinions from their parents, teachers, and fellow students; they can freely read as much racist propaganda online as they want […]; they hear about...
Macedonia: Quoting Havel
The link to the famous open letter – “Dear Dr. Husák” [en, cz] (1975) – written by the then-dissident Václav Havel to the Czech Communist Party leader, has been shared by many Macedonian Facebook users, accompanied by excerpts such as this one: ”The number of people who sincerely believe everything...
Slovakia: Stop ACTA Protest
An anti-ACTA rally took place in Bratislava on Feb. 4. On the protest's Facebook page [sk], nearly 7,500 people wrote they would attend, and over 3,800 wrote they'd “maybe” attend. The weather was cold and windy; the recent news from Poland, which has postponed the ratification of ACTA, was good;...
Slovakia: 25,000 Euro for National Gallery's Website?
Slovak netizens are discussing the overpriced new website of the Slovak National Gallery [sk, en]: SME.sk reports [sk] that the “minimally designed” [en] site cost Slovak taxpayers some 25,000 euro (allegedly, 20 times the price of the website of the Czech National Gallery in Prague [cz]); SME.sk blogger Martin Palšovič...
CEE: A Roundup on the Roma Issues
An anti-discrimination Roma flash mob/dance duel in Bucharest (video – here), and a report by Bulgarian Roma students on media coverage of Roma-related issues – at TOL's Roma Transitions blog. Education for the Roma children in the UK, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – at the Economist's Eastern Approaches blog....
CEE: “Spotted by Locals”
Spotted by Locals: Experience cities like a local features a few dozen locations, including CEE cities of Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Krakow, Ljubljana, Prague, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius, Warsaw, and Zagreb. A random sample post from Zagreb, Croatia: Hrelić Flea Market – The Aleph of Zagreb; from Bucharest, Romania: The Haunted...
CEE: Getting “Abnormal For A Change”
East of Center writes about “Eastern Europe’s ‘obsession with normality'” and suggests this New Year’s resolution: “In the true spirit of Václav Havel, why don’t we get abnormal for a change?”
CEE: More on Václav Havel and His Legacy
More posts on Václav Havel and his legacy from around the region's Anglophone blogosphere: Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia; CzechFolks.com; Petr Bokuvka of The Czech Daily Word – here and here; Jeremy Druker of TOL's East of Center; Tjebbe van Tijen and Mary Kaldor for OpenDemocracy.net; Giustino of Itching...
Czech Republic: A Tribute to Václav Havel
A tribute to Václav Havel, by Luboš Motl of The Reference Frame: “[…] Havel has been an unusually strong moral autority that has influenced even people such as me who ultimately found out that they disagree with him about many pretty fundamental things. He's been proposed for a peace Nobel...
Czech Republic: Open Source Initiative to Visualize State Budget
KohoVolit‘s Michal Škop and Centrum Cyfrowe [pl] from Poland announced that the open source application Raw Salad [pl] used to hack the Polish state budget will also be used in the Czech Republic. Besides publishing the budget data using this new way, Czechs will also create a dedicated portal with...
Czech Republic: Reactions to Qaddafi's Death; Trade Relations With Libya
Petr Bokuvka of The Czech Daily Word writes about the potential of the foreign trade relations between the Czech Republic and Libya, and reports on the Czech Foreign Ministry's reaction to the death of Qaddafi.
Czech Republic: Milan Kundera and Privacy Issues
At OpenDemocracy.net, James Warner writes about Milan Kundera's work and the issues of privacy in the age of totalitarianism and now, in the age of new technologies and the internet.
Czech Republic: Gay Pride in Prague and Politics
The Reference Frame comments on the politics surrounding Prague's first gay pride parade.
