Khattar's Name Change Fever Even Griped Czech Politicians

 Khattar's Name Change  Fever Griped Even Czech Politicians

Probably Czech politicians have taken cue from Indian political torch bearers, Czech politicians have also pushed name game.  Czechia will soon be synonymous with the Czech Republic.

But they have some finer point to make. Unlike most European countries, the Czech Republic  lacks  a one-word version of its name in foreign languages. Now, the country is set to use the name Czechia in English, Tschechien in German or Tchequie in French,” translations of “Cesko” in Czech.

So now Czech, a one-word name,  is more practical and flexible for various uses.

Neighboring Slovakia is officially the Slovak Republic. Similarly, Russia is used for the Russian Federation.

Top Czech leaders, including President Milos Zeman, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, speakers of both chambers of Parliament and the foreign and defense ministers met Thursday and endorsed the new name. They feel that using a one-word name in foreign languages if it is not necessary to use the formal name of the country.” They mentioned sports events and marketing as an example. To make it official, the Foreign Ministry will ask the United Nations to include the option in its databases.

But there are strong voices against this decision. Critics say it could be confused with the Russian republic of Chechnya. Others say it doesn’t properly represent two parts of the country historically known as Moravia and Silesia, only the Czech part, known as Bohemia. Also there are die hard critics who feel that it will not help country to compete with Western European countries economically and feel that it is an exercise to divert attention from recession gripping country from last four years.

It was in  2012 the Czech economy fell into a recession, due  to a slump in external demand as well as the government’s austerity measures. The country pulled out of recession somehow  in the second half of 2013. Foreign and domestic businesses alike voice concerns about corruption, especially in public procurement. Other long term challenges include dealing with a rapidly aging population, funding an unsustainable pension and health care system, and diversifying away from manufacturing and toward a more high-tech, services-based, knowledge economy.

Tweet