Meanwhile in Czechia... 10/25
14.03.2025
Tibetan flag throughout the country
In hundreds of Czech towns and villages this week, the Tibetan flag flew on town halls and other public buildings. The flag was even waved on the highest mountain in the Czech Republic, the Schneekoppe.
The nationwide (and international) campaign commemorates the suppression of the Tibetan uprising, which began on March 10, 1959 and is said to have claimed around 86,000 lives. The action has been taking place since the mid-1990s and aims to commemorate the ongoing violation of human rights in Tibet.
There is a special tradition of support for Tibet and sympathy for the Dalai Lama in the Czech Republic, which dates back to the time when, thanks to Václav Havel, the country attached particular importance to human rights internationally. Meetings between politicians and the Dalai Lama have often led to disagreements with China.
"Vlny" wins Bohemian Lions
The film "Vlny" was awarded the "Bohemian Lion", the most important Czech film prize, by the Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA) as the best feature film of 2024. It also won the Lions for Director and Screenplay (Jiří Mádl), Best Supporting Actor (Tatiana Pauhofová and Stanislav Majer) and Best Sound (Viktor Ekrt). It also received the Audience Award. The film had been submitted as the Czech entry for the Oscar and was also shortlisted as one of the 15 best, but was ultimately left empty-handed.
"Vlny" ("Waves") deals with the efforts of Czech radio employees in the 1960s to provide the population with truthful news despite censorship and pressure from the Stasi. After the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968 by Warsaw Pact troops, radio editors continued to broadcast from a secret station for some time.
With a total of 13 awards (but not the most prominent ones), the film "Amerikánka" is the second big winner of the year. It deals with growing up in Czech children's homes under socialism in a visually unusual way. "Ještě nejsem, kým chci být", about the photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková, was named best documentary film.
We showed the latter, including an interview with the protagonist, at the Czech-German Culture Days last year. Both "Vlny" and "Amerikánka" will be part of our program this year.
Škoda Auto defies the trend
Contrary to the trend of most European car manufacturers, Škoda Auto reports its best business results ever for 2024. Sales increased by 4.7% to 27.8 billion euros, operating profit by 30% to 2.3 billion euros, and the return on sales to 8.3%. A total of 926,600 vehicles were sold (+6.9%). In Europe, the company became the 4th best-selling car brand for the first time. In addition to the expected countries such as Germany (market share 7.3%) and the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Italy and the UK were the most important sales markets. Outside Europe, the focus is on India, and a new plant is currently being ramped up in Vietnam. The company has set itself the target of doubling its sales of electric cars by 2025.
This is good news for the Czech Republic, as Škoda Auto accounts for a significant share of the Czech gross domestic product. In 2021, this was around 5% (with around 1/3 less sales than in 2024) and is likely to have increased in the meantime (unfortunately we could not find more recent figures). This makes it the most important company in the country. It employs around 35,000 people in the Czech Republic.
Unfortunately, Škoda is also an exception in the Czech Republic, as Czech industrial production has been stagnating for two years and fell slightly in January. The main reason cited for this is the weak economic momentum throughout Europe and in Germany in particular, which is hitting an export nation like the Czech Republic hard. After all, a third of Czech exports went to Germany.
Czechs donate for "gift for Putin"
The Czech Republic is supporting Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia, with military equipment not only from the state, but also from civil society. In 2022, the initiative "Dárek pro Putina" ("Gift for Putin") was founded, which buys weapons for Ukraine through private donations. Donald Trump's actions in recent weeks (in particular his unspeakable interaction with President Zelenskyi in the White House on February 28) have led to a sharp increase in donations, including for the purchase of a Black Hawk military helicopter. Last week, the initiative reported that around 20,600 people had donated a total of 24 million crowns (approx. 960,000 euros) in just 5 days. Since the initiative was founded in May 2022, more than 990 million crowns (approx. 39.6 million euros) have been raised.
Bruno gets a partner
The Kamchatka bear Bruno has been living at Děčín Zoo since 2019, and all this time alone. The zoo had been looking for a suitable partner for some time and has now found one in the form of Irina in Brno, where Bruno originally came from.
The zoo asked for donations for Irina's journey from Brno to Děčín. In return, people could buy symbolic kilometers and follow on a map how far Irina had already come. In just four days, 176 people had paid for all 320 kilometers. Nevertheless, the journey cannot start immediately, but is a complicated process in which the needs of both bears have to be taken into account.
Trail markings are renewed
These days, the active members of the Czech Tourist Club (KČT) are out and about renewing the well-known hiking trail markings. In the Czech Republic, neither the state nor the municipalities take on this task, but the KČT is responsible for marking and signposting the hiking trails. There is a sophisticated system for this, which in our opinion is one of the best in the world. Such high-quality, uniform and detailed signposting and marking is hard to find anywhere else. This is mainly thanks to the voluntary commitment of many KČT members.
Funding approved for 20 projects
The steering committee for the small project fund in the Elbe/Labe Euroregion held a five-hour meeting in Dubí today. It received 25 project applications for decision. Funding amounting to € 271,563.20 was approved for 20 applications. Four applications were rejected and one was deferred for revision. Eleven of the approved applications with a funding volume of € 156,886.40 came from German applicants and nine applications with a funding volume of € 114,676.80 came from Czech applicants. In total, 71 projects (43 Czech, 28 German) with a total volume of €783,084.00 are being funded in the current Small Projects Fund (running since 2024). Until the end of the current funding period in 2027, funds amounting to approx. 3.1 million euros are still available in the Small Projects Fund.
If you would like to receive our weekly review regularly in your email inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
To the newsletter registration