Title of Current Event: Czech Republic: Churches to Get Restitution for Seized Property
Source of Current Event: www.nytimes.com
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, there were major changes to the
country formely known as "Czechoslovakia". In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two different countries, one called "The Czech Republic", the other one called "Slovakia". After the Czech republic joined the European Union (E.U) officially, they slowly made the transition to a democratic systen. Currently their political system still runs under a Democratic system. Also, their leader right now is Vaclav Klaus. He became the Czech Republic's leader in 2003 after Vaclav Havel stepped down because of ill health. Vaclav Klaus was the perfect person to succeed Havel after being the country's prime minister for 5 years (1992-1997). The economy of Czech Republic under nValclav Klaus improved greatly.
Summary: On wednesday, April 25, the Czech government agreed to pay billions of dollars in compensation to churches whose property was seized by the former Communist government. This compensation plan is a win-win situation for both the Czech government and the Churches. The state would no longer have to pay priest's salaries. Under this plan, the Czech Republic's seventeen churches, including the Roman Catholic and Protestant sections, would get back at least 56 percent of their old property that was held by the state. The churches will also get 2.9 billion dollars over the next thirty years. this will enable the state to gradually stop covering church expenses.
