Prague may become Chinese financial centre - Czech PM. "There is a big chance for Prague to become a centre of Chinese financial institutions that would serve the countries of Central and Eastern Europe but also the European Union," Sobotka said. Bank of China, one of the biggest state-run banks in China, will open its branch in Prague by the end of the year. Sobotka and Wang talked about Sobotka´s visit to China scheduled for November. Sobotka said a large business delegation would accompany him to Beijing. During the visit, further cooperation in education, health care and trade may be agreed on.
Sobotka said he would show interest in a second direct flight between Prague and some Chinese city. In September, a direct flight between Beijing and Prague started operating. Sobotka will meet China´s top representatives and participate in a meeting of the 16+1 group, or the Central and Eastern European Countries and China, during his visit. The highest Chinese politician to visit the Czech Republic was Premier Wen Jiabao in December 2005 and May 2009. Czechs want to send 50 policemen, 100 soldiers to Hungary. Hundreds of people protest against migration in Czech towns. A total 1500 people attended a rally against migrants held by the Bloc against Islam and the parliamentary Dawn-National Democracy in Brno, the second largest town.
Armoured police had to interfere at a demonstration against the EU, migration and Islam in Prague centre. Policemen had to divide the groups of opponents and supporters of refugees. The rally, organised by the Bloc against Islam and Dawn-National Democracy, attracted hundreds of people. Many of them carried Czech flags. Shortly after the beginning, some 30 activists with a loudhailer and banners expressing opposite opinions, approached the anti-migration demonstration.
Both groups tried to shout each other down until the police intervened. According to the police estimates, some 300 people are on the square. Lutz Baumann, chairman of the German Pegida movement criticising Islam, arrived in Prague to support the anti-migration demonstration. "All European patriots must cooperate now to be able to face this threat. EC asks why Prague fails to expel illegal migrants - CRo. The Czech Republic has returned only 13 percent of illegal migrants abroad, compared with the EU´s average of 39 percent, the EC wrote to the Interior Ministry earlier this month. It asked the Interior Ministry to submit a list of measures to improve the situation in a month. The returning of illegal migrants is crucial for reducing illegal migration, the EC wrote. In its letter to Prague, it refers to the Eurostat figures, according to which the Czech Republic ordered 2,460 people to leave Czech territory last year, but in fact it expelled only 320 people.
Chovanec (Social Democrats, CSSD) reacted saying the fresh figures from 2015 show that 460 of 7,000 refugees who entered the Czech Republic illegally are kept in detention now. "I wonder what the results of the counting experts in their warm offices will be this year," Chovanec wrote on Twitter, alluding to the EC. The EC, nevertheless, says too many migrants stay illegally in the Czech Republic, whatever the reasons may be. Czech foreign ministry spends 86 million on Syrian refugees. This year, the Foreign Ministry has sponsored six projects for over 16 million crowns to help the war-torn Syria as well as the neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon to which more than two million refugees have fled. The four-year civil war in Syria has claimed 300,000 lives and forced out of their homes over 11 million people. They have been helped by Czech NGOS such as the People in Need that has an office in Aleppo and Idlib and has delivered direct aid to 1.6 million Syrians since the conflict started in 2011.
The Deaconry of the Czech Brethren church has been mainly helping the Syrian refugees in Jordan and since 2012, in the biggest refugee camp al-Zaatari, now housing about 80,000 people, while more than half of them are children and youths. Along with local partners, it has built the Peace Oasis centre where a psychologist can be used and retraining courses are offered.
The Deaconry received 2.5 million crowns from the Foreign Ministry this year. In 2014, it was three million. Conditions in Czech facilities for migrants improving - minister. Sabatova said she appreciated that the conditions for children would get better. Chovanec said the facilities for migrants were being adapted in order to suit mothers with children, too. The interiors are being redecorated and new mattresses will be provided, he said. The number of social workers in the facilities increased and the ministry is seeking interpreters for the refugees from the Middle East, Chovanec said. Chovanec said he and Sabatova held different views of some issues. Sabatova is against the payments to cover the living costs that are collected from the foreigners and she does not like the presence of security guards in the buildings, in which the foreigners are living.
Last week, Sabatova presented the results of checks her office made in the detention facilities. She said the children lived in worse conditions than Czech prisoners. The police established some detention facilities for illegal migrants in empty former prisons. Autor: ČTKwww.ctk.cz. Czechs to demand protection of EU border at Maltese summit. To be held on Wednesday and Thursday, the summit will be attended by representatives of the African countries from which refugees are coming to Europe. "The mandate for the La Valletta summit on migration was approved. These are the Czech priorities: protection of the outer border, the ability to sign a deal with Africa, conditions of an agreement with Turkey," Prouza wrote.
The Czech Republic will be represented at the summit by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) and Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Belobradek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL). Invitations to the summit have been sent to EU members and the African countries that are members of the Rabat and Khartoum Process, representatives of the African Union Commission, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations and the International Office for Migration. EU interior ministers are discussing the migrant crisis in Brussels today. Autor: ČTKwww.ctk.cz. Refugee readmission will be hard for Germans - Czech PM. Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) was talking to journalists ahead of the EU-Africa summit on the migrant crisis. Germany announced today its intention to resume the readmission of Syrian refugees to the countries where they entered the EU, with the aim to curb the wave of migrants flowing to Germany. The readmission of refugees is based on the valid European conventions.
Germany ceased to apply them to Syrian refugees in August. Sobotka said Germany wants to take an approach based on European conventions, which the Czech Republic has been promoting for a long time. The main problem is that hotspots, or centres for refugee registration along the Schengen border, still do not operate appropriately, Sobotka said. "I am afraid that with the still lacking consistent registration of refugees on their entry into the EU..., which is a problem mainly...in Greece, Germany will hardly have sufficient data enabling it to implement its plan [of Syrians´ readmission]," Sobotka said.
Autor: ČTKwww.ctk.cz. Three refugees get injured in Czech detention centre in Drahonice. One of the injured men was transported to hospital. In fear of being deported from the Czech Republic, about 40 refugees declared on Tuesday evening that they were going on a protest hunger strike. Volunteers who are in contact with the refugees said three refugees hurt themselves last night already. Rendlova said the situation in the refugee facility calmed down again, after a day of rather intensive protests against the detention. About 40 refugees did not come to have breakfast and lunch. Two men cut their arms. Another migrant tried to attack a security guard. The police pacified the man but he broke a glass door with his head and suffered cuts when they escorted him away, Rendlova said.
She said similar protests against being deported or moved to a different facility were relatively frequent among the foreigners. At present, there are 100 foreigners in the facility, which means that about half of the beds are occupied. Autor: ČTKwww.ctk.cz. Current mass migration is no refugee crisis - Szijjarto in Prague. Szijjarto said there are 45 million people in the Middle East and North Africa who might be moving to Europe due to conflicts or the political situation. One must not make political statements that look like invitations for these people, Szijjarto said in reaction to the statements that German Chancellor Angela Merkel made this summer, which markedly contributed to a massive migrant influx to the European Union according to some politicians.
The first Prague European Summit discusses the migrant crisis, the situation in Ukraine, the struggle against Islamic State and a restart of the EU enlargement process in relation to the countries of the Western Balkans. European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans was to open the summit today, but he had to urgently fly to the EU-Africa summit on migration in Malta. Timmermans will take part in the Prague conference on Friday, however. Autor: ČTKwww.ctk.cz. Czechs may send 6000 rifles to Kurds fighting Islamic militants.
Poroshenko Says Situation In Eastern Ukraine Worsening. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says the situation in eastern Ukraine has recently worsened and the country's security and territorial integrity are being threatened. Poroshenko told a session of the National Security and Defense Council in Kyiv on November 11 that attempts by the Russian-backed separatists in parts of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions to "foil the Minsk agreements" and to "provoke the Ukrainian military with acts of sabotage" are endangering national security. Poroshenko's comments come on the same day that Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko reported the death of a soldier near the village of Hranitne, 50 kilometers south of the city of Donetsk. Lysenko said five other Ukrainian soldiers were wounded after coming under fire from small arms and grenades in the past 24 hours.
He added that there were 21 cease-fire violations by the separatists registered by Ukrainian officials and that Kyiv forces had returned fire. Näin Venäjän salaiset joukot sotivat Syyriassa – "toimivat kuin Ukrainassa" Venäjän asevoimien toimintaa seuraavan venäläisen CIT-verkkotutkijaryhmän (Conflict Intelligence Team) jäsenet toteavat 8. marraskuuta julkaistussa raportissaan, että Venäjän asevoimat osallistuu aktiivisesti Syyrian armeijan maaoperaatioihin kapinallisryhmiä vastaan. Venäjä väittää interventionsa Syyriassa rajoittuvan ainoastaan ilmaiskuihin sekä neuvonantajien ja kaluston tarjoamiseen. CIT:n johtaja Ruslan Levievin mukaan Venäjän toimet Syyriassa vastaavat Itä-Ukrainassa vallinnutta tilannetta. Venäjää on syytetty Itä-Ukrainan separatistien tukemisesta, kun maa toimittamaa heille aseita, kalustoa ja vakituisen armeijan joukkoja. Venäjä on myöntänyt ainoastaan, että Itä-Ukrainassa on vapaaehtoisia taistelijoita.
Aktiivisena bloggarina tunnettu Leviev on paljastanut aikaisemmin lukuisia tapauksia Venäjän salaamista Ukrainassa kaatuneista venäläissotilaista. – Sitten on epävirallinen osa, jonka viranomaiset kieltävät. . – Tämä kuitenkin kielletään. Venäjä julkisti salatun vedenalaisen ydinaseen – ”tuhoaa vihollisen rannikon” Venäjän presidentti Vladimir Putin keskusteli maanantaina järjestetyssä kokouksessa korkeimpien neuvonantajiensa kanssa Venäjän sotateollisuuden tilasta. Kokouksesta näytettiin nauhoite Venäjän valtion televisiokanavilla (video alla). Televisiolähetyksessä vilahti myös tekninen asiakirja, joka on herättänyt runsaasti huomiota. Asiakirjassa kuvataan aiemmin tuntematon vedenalainen ydinase.
Asetta kutsutaan nimellä "monikäyttöinen merijärjestelmä Status-6”. Presidentti Putinin tiedottaja Dmitri Peskov kommentoi asiaa medialle, todeten, että kyseessä on salainen asiakirja, jonka paljastus oli vahinko. Asiasta uutisoiva Meduza suhtautuu väitteisiin vahingosta epäillen. Meduza on julkaissut asiakirjan videolla näkyvän tekstin, jossa kuvataan asejärjestelmän ominaisuuksia. Aseen todetaan muun muassa kykenevän vahingoittamaan ”vihollisen talouden elintärkeitä elementtejä sen rannikkoalueilla”. Useissa eri lähteissä on pyöritelty teorioita siitä, millaisesta asejärjestelmästä tarkalleen on kyse. Venäjän valtio salaa kiinteistöomistuksiaan ulkomailla – syynä ”kansallinen turvallisuus” Venäläisen RBC:n tutkimukset paljastavat, että Venäjän hallinto salaa valtion elinten ulkomaisia omistuksia.
Asiasta uutisoivan Moscow Timesin mukaan omistusten salaaminen on Venäjän lain vastaista, ellei kyse ole sotilastukikohdista tai avaruustutkimukseen liittyvistä laitoksista. Lain mukaan tietojen muista valtion omistuksista tulisi olla vapaasti kansalaisten saatavilla. Asia paljastui, kun RBC yritti selvittää "erään Kremlin osaston" varoja. ”Ulkomailla sijaitsevista valtion omistuksista ei julkaista tietoja valtion kiinteistöomistuksista vastaavan viraston sivuilla johtuen kansalliseen turvallisuuteen liittyvistä syistä, jotka ovat kytköksissä eräiden valtioiden epäystävälliseen politiikkaan”, valtion kiinteistöviraston apulaisjohtaja Aleksei Tsubar muotoili vastauksena RBC:n tiedusteluun. Tsubar kieltäytyi antamasta lakiin perustuvaa syytä salaustoimille. Amnesty: EU:n annettava Unkarille varoitus pakolaisten kohtelun takia. Siirtolaisia Budapestin Keletin rautatieasemalla. (Kuva: Michael Gubi / cc 2.0)Ihmisoikeusjärjestö Amnesty International vaatii EU:ta antamaan Unkarille varoituksen turvapaikanhakijoiden kurjan kohtelun takia.
EU:n perussopimus mahdollistaa menettelyn, jonka mukaan jäsenmaata voidaan varoittaa, jos on olemassa selvä vaara, että maa loukkaa oikeusvaltioperiaatetta ja ihmisoikeuksia, järjestö muistuttaa. Unkarista oli elokuun loppuun mennessä hakenut turvapaikkaa noin 161 000 ihmistä, lähes neljä kertaa enemmän kuin viime vuonna yhteensä. Heidän kohtelunsa on kuitenkin herättänyt kritiikkiä. Amnestyn tänään julkistaman raportin mukaan Unkari on loukannut turvapaikanhakijoiden kohtelussa kansainvälistä oikeutta useilla tavoilla. Monet järjestön haastattelemista siirtolaisista kertoivat viranomaisten käyttämästä väkivallasta. Unkari aloitti myös syyskuussa piikkilanka-aitojen rakentamisen Kroatian ja Serbian rajoille. "Unkari kohtelee pakolaisia ja siirtolaisia järkyttävällä tavalla.
No NATO Bases Here, Slovakia Says | The Daily Slovakia. Slovakia has expressed its unwillingness to have NATO bases set up in the country, and will instead be proposing small contact units for eastern members at the upcoming NATO summit in Romania in November. Pravda daily cites the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs SR as saying “Slovakia is not requesting any bases. We are working on establishing small contact teams that will co-ordinate the national defence plans with those of the Alliance”. Other eastern members of NATO welcome the idea of bases being established in their territories, like Poland and certain Baltic states. Germany and others warn, though, that an agreement between Russia and NATO from 1997 could be breached.
The summit in Bucharest should bring together members of NATO from Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States (Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). Czech Army seeks replacement for legendary Praga V3S all-terrain trucks | The Czech Journal. Czechs Set To Take Over Chunk of Slovak Gas Industry | The Daily Czech Rep. Is beer really the biggest Czech export? | The Czech Journal.
Slovakia no longer dependent on russian oil | The Czech Journal. Migrants in Drahonice detention center refuse breakfast.