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Two Czech MEPs were elected to senior committee positions in the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday. Czech MEP Veronika Vrecionová was elected Chair of the influential Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), while Luděk Niedermayer was re-elected as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). Each EP committee elects its own leadership, made up of a Chair and up to four Vice-Chairs, for a two-and-a-half year mandate.
Vrecionová, of Czechia's Civic Democrat (ODS) party, is a member of the centre-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) parliamentary group, while Niedermayer, of Czechia's TOP 09 party, is in the European People's Party (EPP), the largest and oldest group in the European Parliament.
The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, says if the minister of industry and trade, Jozef Síkela, becomes the country’s nominee for European commissioner, he will be replaced quickly in his cabinet position. Mr. Fiala made the comment in an interview with news outlet Blesk on Tuesday. However, the PM refused to comment on whether the government will indeed put Mr. Síkela forward for the EU post.
Both the industry minister and the freshly elected MEP Danuše Nerudová, who both represent the Mayors, have been discussed as possible candidates for the European commissioner position. MP Lukáš Vlček, from the same party, has been tipped as a potential replacement for Mr. Síkela at the cabinet table.
The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, says his officials will continue to fight for the release of journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and for justice for other political prisoners in Russia.
Mr. Lipavský said that Russia confirmed every day that it had no respect for human rights after a court in the country sentenced Ms. Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist with the Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to six and a half years in jail for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian army.
The Liberty Ostrava Steelworks, Czechia’s largest producer of steel, plans to close its coke plant and is preparing to lay off workers, the company said in a press release, without specifying how many employees would be laid off. Liberty submitted a proposal to reduce the number of employees to the trade unions on Tuesday.
The head of the KOVO trade union organisation, Petr Slanina, told the Czech News Agency that the redundancies could affect up to 2,600 people, with 2,300 employees leaving by the end of November and 300 by the end of January, according to information the trade union leaders received from the management.
The company currently employs about 5,000 people, although the majority have not been working since last December, when most of Liberty's operations were forced to close down. The employees have not been paid for two months and are being compensated by the state.
The steelworks has been in insolvency since June, after the company admitted it was unable to meet overdue liabilities exceeding CZK 5 billion.
The US semiconductor supplier company Onsemi has signed a multi-year contract with Volkswagen (VW) to be the primary supplier of power modules for the German car manufacturer's next generation of electric vehicles. Onsemi, which also operates in Czechia and recently announced the expansion of production at its manufacturing facility in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, was selected to power the VW Group’s vehicle lineup across several brands, which includes Škoda Auto. Onsemi will provide VW with an integrated module solution that can scale across all power levels, from high to low power traction inverters, so as to be compatible for all vehicle categories.
The deal is expected to bring technological advances in electric cars, as Onsemi's silicon carbide-based technologies enable higher performance, reduce energy loss and increase the range of electric cars, the companies said in a joint press release. The Volkswagen Group will also benefit from Onsemi’s plans to expand manufacturing in Europe and establish an end-to-end production facility for the traction inverter system in Europe. Onsemi announced in June that it was going to invest USD 2 billion to build a silicon carbide production plant in the Czech Republic.
A ban on cars and taxis at night in part of Prague's Old Town district will come into force on Wednesday or Thursday, Prague 1 city councillor Vojtěch Ryvola told the Czech News Agency. The measure aims to reduce noise at night in the area around Dlouhá Street, where a large number of night clubs are located and where local residents have long been complaining about noise. The ban on entry between 10 pm and 6 am will apply to the area between the Dvořák embankment, Pařížská street, Old Town Square and Revoluční street.
Prague 1 tried to introduce the ban last November, but it was immediately revoked by the municipal department of road transport after it was criticised by Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda.
Wednesday should see slightly cooler weather than over the last few days, with a temperature high of 24 degrees Celsius. Skies are expected to remain overcast with a chance of rain.
The ice cube-like New Stage of the National Theatre in Prague is to undergo major renovations, its operators announced on Tuesday. An adjacent building will also get an overhaul, and more use will be made of the small plaza linking the complex to the historic National Theatre.
As every year, dozens of students from all over the world arrived in Czechia to take part in this year’s edition of the annual Summer Czech Course for Expats organised by Charles University. For the past few years, the course has been held in the charming spa town of Poděbrady in Central Bohemia. We caught up with some of them to find out about their motivation to study Czech.
Beach volleyball world champions David Schweiner and Ondřej Perušič will be among the first Czechs to compete at the imminent Olympic Games in Paris. Three years after their Covid-related disappointment in Tokyo, the Czechs are hoping to bring back gold this time.
Czech sausages come in a huge variety of different types. Every region, town, village, and sometimes even family has its own! Find out more about “klobásy” and “taliány” in the next episode of our video series Czech food classics!
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