Real Estate Czech Republic

How do the Germans view the Czechs? Just going out to play: a little girlrides her scooter all the way to Poland. And, the cricket invasion inHarrachov. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova. A fascinating book by a German journalist, just out, reflects how ourGerman neighbours view us Czechs. The book by Hans Jorg Smit is called theGerman’s guidebook to Czechs and is really a delightful portrait - pleasetake it with a pinch of salt - and here we go: the typical Czech is of the”homo-country cottage” species, endlessly pottering around thecountry cottage that he has built from scratch …

Slovenia’s most north-eastern region is known as Pomurje and it sharesborders with Austria, Hungary and Croatia. Around 6% of the population livein this mainly agricultural area which is also the country’s poorest. Theregion is known for its flatlands, storks and its cultural heritage, butalso for its lack of development. Pomurje, photo: www.ukom.gov.siThe song ‘namesto koga roza cveti’ (Instead of Whom the Flowers Bloom) isby one of the most popular singers and songwriters in Slovenia, VladoKreslin. He draws upon the creative energy of the musical heritage of hishomeland region Prekmurje. The …

When the former communist countries of Central Europe began the process ofjoining the EU, most of them had to develop a new layer of government -regional administrations. The centralised communist system did not havesuch devolved decision making. Slovakia was one of the countries whichquickly developed official regions in order to tap into development fundsfrom Brussels. But you won’t find the Spis region of Slovakia on any map.It’s a place where cultural traditions, local dialect and food have beenaround much longer than the new regional borders. Spis regionSlovaks love to praise the beauty of …

“The wine of kings - the king of wines” - is what Louis the 14th,of France is reported to have said as he popped the cork on another bottleof Tokaj wine. This is the delicious sweet wine produced in thenorth-eastern Hungarian region of Tokaj - with a little bit of itstretching into Slovakia. The region is World Heritage listed and theflagship of Hungarian wine production. It is now trying to regain itsformer glory.Wine has been produced in the Tokaj region since the 14th century. It isthe combined presence of special geological, climatic and biologicalconditions along with strict rules applied …

Wroclaw in south-western Poland is one of the country’s most dynamiccities. It’s attracting major international companies and it has bigambitions to raise its profile. It will host EURO 2012 footballchampionship matches and it’s also in the race to host the EXPO Exhibitionin the same year. Insight Central Europe took a look at what’s happening inthe Wroclaw region in the run-up to these events. WroclawDuring the city’s recent promotional event in Paris, Wroclaw’s bid tohost EXPO was given the support of one of the best known Poles, formerpresident Lech Walesa. Thanks to a TV link-up, tens of thousands …

The Czech Radio building has stood on Vinohradska Street for the last 75years, and witnessed the rise and fall of the First Republic, the Nazioccupation, and then communism. The building itself has featured heavily inrecent Czech history, with vicious battles being fought in its vicinity atthe end of World War II, and Russian tanks and civilians clashing thereagain in 1968. But in all of these 75 eventful years of operation, thebuilding has not been renovated once, and now it is in need of a 500million CZK facelift. On Friday, the building was officially closed for therefit. Rosie Johnston was …

A new surgical treatment of snoring and sleep apnea has been performed forthe first time in the world by Czech doctors in the west Bohemian town ofDomazlice. The method was developed by the American company Apneon, whichchose the Czech doctor Vaclav Pavelec on the basis of his publishedspecialist studies. I spoke to Mr Pavelec earlier today and started byasking him about the problem of snoring in general. Rick Lilly from the American company Apneon shows the surgical implant against snoring, photo: CTK”Snoring itself can only be a social or a cosmetic problem. The worsesituation occurs when there …

The Czech Republic ranks 47th out of 158 countries in TransparencyInternational’s 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index, and a series ofgovernments since 1989 have been criticised for failing to address grafteffectively. But can we now expect some progress in this area? InteriorMinister Ivan Langer has proposed the introduction of undercover agents,who would be present in all areas of life - even fighting corruption withinthe police force. The Czech Republic has had a problem with corruption for decades. In thecommunist era, when very little could be achieved without a bribe,corruption flourished and …

The life of Arnost Lustig (81) is like an excursion through modern Czechhistory. The internationally renowned author of novels such as Dita Saxova,A Prayer for Katherine Horowitz and Lovely Green Eyes spent three years inNazi camps, joined the Communist Party and left his homeland in 1968. Inthis week’s edition of Arts, Arnost Lustig talks to us about his eventfullife. Arnost Lustig, photo: Chad Evans WyattArnost Lustig is one of the best-known as well as most popular Czechwriters. In his work, he has been trying to achieve what many othersthought impossible - reflect on probably the greatest tragedy …

The ministers do not want to go beyond 1.5 percent while the unions demand at last 5 percent.

“We have failed,” said Alena Vondrova, spokeswoman for the trade unions in subsidised organisations (ROPO).

Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) and Social Affairs Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS) said a quicker pay increase is unacceptable for the government that plans to decrease the public finance debt.

The unions rejected the government’s argument that if the number of public administration employees decreases, wages could be go up more quickly.

About 459,000 people in the ten million Czech Republic are paid from the state budget.