ThinkProgress » Czech Republic

Czech Dissident And President Václav Havel Dies At 75

Ali Gharib — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 19:45:44 +0000

Václav Havel, a dissident of Communist rule over Eastern Europe who rose to serve as the first president of Czechoslovakia and, later, the Czech Republic, died at his country home at 75 years of age. Repeatedly jailed by the Communist government, his release from his final detention in 1989 heralded the overthrow of the Communist order. Havel, a writer and philosopher who said words were a “mysterious, ambiguous, ambivalent, and perfidious phenomenon,” still believed in the ability of words to triumph for good. “Is the human word truly powerful enough to change the world and influence history?” he asked when accepting a German peace prize in 1989. His own life is a testament to the resounding answer: Yes.

Czechoslovak Monetary Divorce

Matthew Yglesias — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:01:27 +0000

Prague Castle

Tyler Cowen is looking into the dissolution of monetary unions. One recent case is the 1993 “Velvet Divorce” of the Czech and Slovak Republics. The basic mechanics of the switch. The countries had divided back in January, but maintained a single currency for a little bit, though the Czechs insisted on splitting up since they thought the Slovak economy would be weaker:

The current bank notes will be exchanged for stamped ones in the ration 1:1 since Thursday 4 till Sunday, February 7 at all post offices and detached sections of the Czech Savings Bank. During those days the banks will stop withdrawal from accounts and deposit books. Till Sunday only not-stamped bank notes are valid in the Czech Republic.

Stamped notes with the value of 100, 500, and 1000 crowns together with not stamped notes of lower value (10,20,50 and coins) will be valid since Monday, February 8. On the same day the Czech currency will be enriched by the first Czech 200 crown bill with the portrait of J.A.Komensky.

Every citizen aged 15 and more can exchange money to the value of 4000 crown, a person below 15 can exchange maximum 1000 crowns. The exchange will be certified in the identity card.

Persons who will not be able for serious reasons exchange money can do so within the following 6 months. If someone has at home more than 4000 crowns, he can deposit it in the Savings Bank of send through post to his own addresse where it will be delivered already stamped.

The situation in Slovakia was basically the same. Anticipation that the Czech Koruna would appreciate relative to the Slovak one meant “thousands of Slovaks rushed across the Czech border to have their old notes stamped as Czech.” Key to making this work is that at the time I believe the České Spořitelna bank was still a state-owned monopoly so capital controls could be applied in a straightforward and effective matter with ease.

Czechs Likely to Ratify Lisbon Soon

Matthew Yglesias — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:48:16 +0000

The last real chance for Euroskeptics to defeat the Lisbon Treaty would be for Czech President Vaclav Klaus to refuse to sign the thing. In theory, a lone holdout can sink the treaty. In practice, the Czech Republic can’t hold off all the pressure from the rest of Europe. But all the Czechs would really need to do is delay signing the thing until the UK’s general election, at which point David Cameron’s Conservative Party will almost certainly come in. The Tories have promised to hold a referendum on Lisbon; but only if it hasn’t been ratified by all 27 EU members already. Now, though, it looks like the Czechs are going to give in to pressure to move quickly and head the Tories off at the pass:

The Czech PM, Jan Fischer, has told EU leaders he fully expects his country to ratify the EU’s Lisbon Treaty by the end of this year. [...] The Czech Republic’s Europe Minister, Stefan Fule, told the BBC he thought the Czech ratification could come in “weeks rather than months”.

Good news, I would say.