Czechia weekend news in brief: Oct. 29–30, 2022

Seniors over 70 will have free admission to all paid interiors of Prague Castle, the presidential seat, in November and December, the Castle announced on its website Saturday. The decision was made by President Miloš Zeman.

Free admission includes St. Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace including the Gothic Vladislav Hall, and the Story of Prague Castle exhibition, as well as Golden Lane and St. George Basilica for free as of November 1 until the end of this year. A valid ID with the date of birth is all that's required for free admission.

Eight young people aged from 15 to 20 were injured, five of them seriously, in a crowd during Halloween celebrations at a disco in Slusovice in the Zlín vicinity last night, an emergency service spokesperson for the region said.

According to the witnesses, people were pushing their way through the crowd at the disco entrance. Police are investigating the circumstances of the accident. The five injured most seriously injured people were transported to the hospital by ambulance. Two of them ended up in the intensive care unit.

The patients with serious injuries were unconscious, suffering from crush syndrome, caused by long-term compression of soft tissue and subsequent release of proteins leading to kidney failure. Some of the injured were intoxicated with alcohol.

Minister of Foreign Affairs for Czechia Jan Lipavský tweeted condolences to those in Seoul impacted by the tragic Halloween stampede that took place in a packed nightlife area of South Korea's capital city on Saturday night.

The crowd crush has claimed the lives of 151 people mostly young people. Lipavský wrote that he was "deeply saddened by the tragedy" and that his "thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected."

Czech presidential candidates cannot agree on whether taxes should be lowered or raised, but most of them criticize the current state financial management and would like to further debate the budget revenues and expenditures, reports ČTK. Businessman Karel Janeček said the tax burden in the Czech Republic is too high and that he is in favor of tax reform. Pavel Fischer said state financial management is unsatisfactory and the budget lacks discipline. Former university rector and economist Danuše Nerudová said state spending of public money should be closely examined.

The Czech Republic isn't violating the Schengen Borders Code by prolonging checks at its border with Slovakia, which was exactly within the framework of international rules, Interior Minister Vít Rakušan told ČTK in reaction to Slovak criticism.

Slovak Interior Minister Roman Mikulec told reporters that Slovakia considered the current Czech checks at the joint border a violation of the Schengen Borders Code. He reiterated that the Czech Republic also violated the bilateral re-admission agreement in connection with the transfer of migrants to Slovakia. The Slovak police may propose that Bratislava withdraw from this agreement.

The Czech Republic introduced the checks at its border with Slovakia primarily over the influx of Syrian migrants in late September and repeatedly decided to prolong them, most recently on Thursday until Dec. 12. According to Rakušan, this is an extreme solution, but he is of the view that if the checks ended now, people smugglers will continue to profit.

The Czech Republic wants to cooperate with South Korea in the research and development of products with a high value-added, such as electromobility, hydrogen technology, and nuclear energy, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said at the opening of a new building of the embassy of South Korea this week.

Hyundai is one of the biggest Korean companies to invest in the Czech Republic. Fiala spoke about Hyundai executive director Chung Euisun later in the afternoon.

"Korea is one of our most important trade partners. So far, Korean companies have invested about three billion dollars in our country," Fiala said.

According to the Embassy of the Korean Republic, Hyundai Motor Company has invested over CZK 34 billion since it launched its plant in Nosovice, North Moravia, in 2008. The Czech Republic and South Korea established diplomatic contacts in 1990.

Now it is one of the biggest trade partners of the Czech Republic outside Europe, the third after China and the U.S.

There are about 2,000 Koreans living in the Czech Republic. Before the Covid pandemic, the Czech Republic was visited by about 400,000 South Koreans annually, the second biggest number of visitors from Asia.

British singer, bassist, and composer Sting performed on Friday at Prague's O2 arena, playing his greatest hits as well as songs from his former band The Police. The last track "Fragile" from his latest solo album was dedicated to war-torn Ukraine and young women fighting for their rights in Iran. 

According to the concert's organizers, the show was attended by approximately 15,000 fans, among them many foreigners.

Research conducted by Ipsos as reported by Deník N shows that the attitudes of the Czech and Slovak public toward Russian aggression differ. But the data also offers insight into differences in perception between voters of individual parties and movements.

The Czech public falls more on the side of Ukraine. For Slovaks, the Russian Federation is the biggest threat of all the countries surveyed, but it is perceived as a danger by 20 percentage points fewer than by respondents in the Czech Republic: in Slovakia, it is roughly half of the population, in the Czech Republic 70 percent.

Hundreds of people from Czechia and abroad arrived in Racineves on Friday to plant the "Alley of Sir Nicholas Winton," in honor of the Briton who saved hundreds of Czech Jewish children before WWII. Some 500 volunteers planted the trees including several of the "children" saved by Winton as well as members of the Winton family.

Winton's deed is extremely topical today, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said at the Winton statue on the first platform at Prague's Main Railway Station from where a train with dozens of participants left to attend the tree planting on Friday morning.

"Children are dying again at these moments. We are facing a war conflict again. There are again many children and their families who need to be saved," the PM said.

A black mulberry, cultivated from a tree in the Wintons' garden, dominates the new alley. It was planted by Winton's son, Nicholas Paul Winton, with his family in memory of his father and his late sister Barbara, who died recently.

The aim of the project is to plant ten million trees in Czechia. So far, volunteers have planted about one-fifth of this amount, according to the project's website.