Following its liberation from communism through 1989’s ‘velvet revolution’ Czechoslovakia went through a ‘velvet divorce’ in 1993. This peaceful splitting of the state yielded the creation of Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This densely populated country of small cities, towns and villages, has one of the most stable economies of the post-communist states in central and eastern  Europe. Its openness to foreign investment, a fairly low-cost structure, and a well-qualified labour force have helped the post revolution economy to prosper. Freedom of religion came with the fall of communism but a degree of complacency exists. Today over 40% of the population profess atheism, with an additional 16% uncertain whether there is a God.  The Catholic Church has a stronger standing than any protestant denomination, but its priests and laity are aging. Protestant churches are enjoying religious freedom for only the second time since 1620.

The health ministry said this week it had secured an additional €3m to its budget in order to ensure the supply of new and innovative drugs for the treatment of Hepatitis C, Amyloidosis and Multiple Sclerosis, and for the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer for all girls aged 12 of age. The health ministry said there were a number of new drugs on the market for these conditions that bring better results for patients and these would be imported for public hospitals. For HPV the free vaccine programme would begin on 1 January, 2016. Meanwhile, the latest reduction in medicine prices of 8.5% on average came into effect on Monday 29  June. The ministry said that with the latest reduction, drugs prices had fallen 23% over the past six months. The ministry said that the wholesale price of antibiotics has dropped over 30% and cholesterol medications by over 40%.

A Gay Pride parade will be held in Zagreb Saturday. Participants will walk under the slogan Louder and Braver: Anti-fascism - Without Compromise. LGBTIQ persons will send out a message that they are not taking part in the parade only as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans-gender, inter-sexual and questioning persons, but as citizens who will not stand by and watch in silence the wheel of history going back. The organisers expect two thousand people to join them. They are using the façade of ‘gay rights’ and then highlighting their dissatisfaction and concern about the political situation in the country and are dedicating the event to the citizens of Croatia. ‘As long as there are people incessantly calling for war, we will fight for a society of peace, co-existence and solidarity. We must stop further political, economic and moral destruction of society. The response to radicalisation and hatred must be a single voice of a broad, united progressive front,’ said the organisers. Left-wing, centre-left, and green political parties are proponents of LGBT rights, while right-wing, centre-right political parties and some NGOs and the Roman Catholic Church oppose LGBT rights. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Croatia

Some 500-550 Bulgarians a year become victims of human trafficking, according to official statistics, cited Bulgaria’s National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. On Monday 29th there was a press conference to launch a project aimed at fighting human trafficking. The project envisages the training of a large number of officials from the law enforcement and security institutions and courts and will acquaint people involved in the fight against human trafficking with  specific aspects of the problem. Human trafficking is a cross-border crime and requires joint efforts  by Bulgaria and all other EU countries. Currently large numbers of human traffickers are handed suspended sentences,  causing victims to give up on reporting cases to the police. (in 2014  92 people were convicted of human trafficking and 60% ended with suspended sentences). The most common profile of a victim is a young woman from a region with high unemployment and poverty.