US WAIVES VISA FOR CZECHS
Last week started with a long-awaited announcement: Michael Chertoff, the US secretary of homeland security, came to Prague on Monday 27 October to tell Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek that Czechs will be able to travel to the United States without a visa from 17 November.
Instead of applying for a visa, tourists will only need a biometric passport and a travel authorization, which they will receive for free after submitting their personal and travel details to the US embassy throuth the web-based Electronic System for Travel Authorization. Students and guest workers will still need a visa.
Mr Topolánek said the deal, which puts the Czech Republic on par with western European countries in the eyes of the overseas ally, was a major success of his government's international policy.
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BEWARE OF EU 'IMPERIALISM'
At the end of the week, Czech right-wing think-tank eStat.cz warned that the Czech government might in the future lose the right to negotiate such bilateral agreements with non-EU countries if the draft Lisbon Treaty were retified by all EU member states. Trying to discourage Czech legislators from approving the EU constitutional reform in a parliamentary vote scheduled for 10 November, the group argued that the treaty would significantly circumscribe member states' sovereignty by giving Brussels a major say in foreign, social, energy and other policies, which are currently under the jurisdiction of the national governments.
"This is de facto a return to imperialism of large European countries. It is only using different means this time," said eStat's Dalibor Veřmiřovský, adding that the institutional reform would give excessive powers to the largest EU members - mainly Germany, France, Italy and the UK.
eStat's statement was published only a few days after Czech President Václav Klaus on Tuesday 28 October used the 90th anniversary of Czechoslovakia's independence to step up his patriotic and anti-EU rhetoric. The president said the nation had for decades struggled to emancipate itself first from the Habsburg Empire, then from the Nazis and finally the Communists. But, Klaus, went on, by joining the EU in 2004, Czechs "again" made the old mistake of voluntarily giving up "a significant part of our sovereignty" to an external force.
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WILL CRUNCH GET US TOO?
While western governments rushed to rescue their banks from the global financial crisis, Czech banks assured clients they are largely immune to the crunch. Yet, the flood of bad news from abroad made Czech savers and investors more cautious, prompting many to move their assets from stock funds and other risky instruments to more conservative secured funds, time deposits and building societies.
Czech manufacturers are likely to be affected by a shrinking demand for cars and other goods in Germany and other western countries threatened by the looming crisis. Some Czech employers have suspended new hiring, and the country's main industry and business groups called for help, asking the government to adopt the euro as soon as possible and to prevent further growth of energy prices.
Škoda Auto, the largest Czech exporter, last week suspended production of passenger cars for nine consecutive days to offset the decreasing demand for cars in western Europe. The company has so far this year sold 15 percent more cars than in a comparable period last year, but the strong crown and decreasing car prices have slashed Škoda's profits by 25 percent.
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WATER IN THE HULL
Prague Mayor Pavel Bém announced on Monday 27 October his bid to replace Mirek Topolánek as party chairman at the Civic Democrats (ODS) congress in December. Bém, who blames the premier for a recent election debacle of the governing coalition, likened his party to a ship with "water in the hull" and pledged to "repair the ship and modify the course" if the party made him a new "captain".
