Weekly review no. xx
14.06.2024
Think-tank elections in the Czech Republic as well
The European elections in the Czech Republic also turned into a reckoning with government policy. Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s Spolu alliance was still able to achieve a relatively good second-place finish, winning 6 of the 21 seats. However, the Mayor’s Party and, above all, the Pirates were caught off guard. Five years ago, they had won three seats, but this time they managed to secure only one.
As expected, the ANO party of former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš won and secured 7 seats in the European Parliament. ANO benefited from the rise in voter turnout to 36.45 percent—an increase of nearly eight percentage points. Among the losers was also the anti-EU right-wing nationalist SPD, which shares only its abbreviation with the German Social Democrats. They won only 1 seat instead of 2. The right-wing populists led by the Czech-Japanese Tomio Okamura typically achieve around 10 percent in parliamentary elections. This time, they barely managed to exceed 5 percent.
In a complete surprise, the “Motorists and Vow” electoral alliance achieved over 10 percent, which is enough for two seats in the new EU Parliament. They chose race car driver Filip Turek as their lead candidate, who attracted attention with some distasteful gestures and Nazi-sympathizing rhetoric. This obviously went over well.
The “Stačilo!” (“Enough is enough!”) electoral alliance came in a close second. Its platform is similar to that of the BSW in Germany. Communist and longtime MEP Kateřina Konečná is also a skilled orator and leans more to the right than the left on issues such as climate protection and migration. That was enough to secure two seats.
In the Ústí district, where ANO traditionally has its stronghold, the party performed significantly better than it did nationwide. The Spolu alliance, accordingly, received a lower percentage of the vote. Things also looked slightly better for the motorists’ party, Kateřina Konečná’s alliance, and the Okamura party. Mayors and the Pirates fell below the national average.
Overall, the European elections brought further gains for Euroskeptic parties. They predominantly advocate a stricter immigration policy and a rollback of the Green Deal. Their number of seats rose from around 12 to 16–17.
Exchange of old crowns ends at banks
Starting July 1, old banknotes can only be exchanged at branches of the Czech National Bank (ČNB). These are banknotes in denominations of 100, 200, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 crowns, which were issued between 1995 and 1999. They were withdrawn from circulation at the end of June 2022. Until the end of June, every commercial bank branch will still accept them and exchange them for new bills.
The main difference between the old bills and the new banknotes is the width of the security strip. It is wider on the new bills. In addition, the color of the stripe remains the same when the banknote is turned over. The stripes on the new bills change color from brown-violet to green. Other features include colored dots in the white area on the left and the year of issue (see picture).
According to the central bank, approximately 41 million old banknotes are still in circulation. In addition to the headquarters in Prague, banknotes can also be exchanged in Ústí nad Labem.
The Ústí District Attracts Film Locations
There are places in North Bohemia that you feel you’ve seen before—namely, in a movie. The small town of Úštěk near Litoměřice, for example, with its picturesque and, above all, still historic backdrop, served as the setting for films such as the American tragicomedy *Jojo Rabbit* or the Czech Oscar-winning film *Kolja* from the 1990s. Sometimes locations appear only briefly, such as the Tissa Walls in *The Chronicles of Narnia* or the Prebisch Gate. If you’d like to learn more, we recommend the website www.filmovamista.cz.
The Ústí district now aims to expand the film industry and has launched a 50 million crowns (around 2 million euros) funding program. Funding will be provided for the production of feature films, as well as TV movies, series, and documentaries. Although the funding amounts are modest—a maximum of 3.5 million crowns (140,000 euros) is available per film—the district expects strong demand. The funding comes from the “Just Transformation” fund, which was established for regions phasing out coal mining. For the Ústí district alone, 15 billion crowns (600 million euros) have been allocated from the fund.
People recognize that it takes more than money to attract film productions to North Bohemia. A film office in the Ústí region has been supporting film productions for eight years. It arranges attractive locations and handles communication with the relevant municipalities, authorities, and institutions. The Ústí district hopes this will generate direct revenue from the film industry and indirectly promote tourism.
Expert conference on “homesickness tourism” among displaced persons in Teplice
How did private trips by displaced Sudeten Germans from the GDR to their former Czech homeland contribute to new friendships and reconciliation? How difficult were these trips, and what conflicts stood in the way? These and other questions were the focus of a symposium organized by the Euroregion Elbe/Labe together with the Deutsche Gesellschaft e.V. in Teplice, entitled “Expellees, (homesick) tourists, and ‘new settlers’” in the border regions of the GDR, Czechoslovakia, and the People’s Republic of Poland. Around 70 participants from the Czech Republic and Germany listened to presentations by 15 scholars from the Czech Republic, Germany, and Poland and discussed the topic from various perspectives during five rounds of talks. The conference was opened by Jiří Řehák, Deputy Governor of the Ústí District. The conference itself also took place in an unusual location: the premises of the Garden Restaurant at the Monopol Brewery near the Šanov spa district, a space created by combining historic buildings with new construction.
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The production of this newsletter is co-financed by tax funds based on the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.