Czech Republic Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Czech Republic === {{Main|Velvet Revolution|Dissolution of Czechoslovakia}} [[File:Václav Havel cut out.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Václav Havel]], one of the most important figures in Czech history during the 20th century. Leader of the [[Velvet Revolution]], the last president of [[Czechoslovakia]] and the first president of the Czech Republic.]] In November 1989, Czechoslovakia again became a liberal democracy through the [[Velvet Revolution]]. However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened ([[Hyphen War]]) and on 31 December 1992, the [[Dissolution of Czechoslovakia|country peacefully split]] into the independent [[country|countries]] of the Czech Republic and [[Slovakia]]. Both countries went through economic reforms and [[privatization]]s, with the intention of creating a [[market economy]], as they have been trying to do since 1990, when Czechs and Slovaks still shared the common state. This process was largely successful; in 2006 the Czech Republic was recognized by the World Bank as a "developed country",<ref name="worldbank06">{{cite web|url=http://www.radio.cz/en/article/76314|title=World Bank Marks Czech Republic's Graduation to 'Developed' Status|last=Velinger|first=Jan|date=28 February 2006|publisher=Radio Prague|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112081601/http://www.radio.cz/en/article/76314|archive-date=12 January 2008|url-status=live|access-date=22 January 2007}}</ref> and in 2009 the [[Human Development Index]] ranked it as a nation of "Very High Human Development".<ref name="hdi09">{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf |title=Human Development Report 2009 |work=UNDP.org |date=January 2009 |access-date=25 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122115116/http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> From 1991, the Czech Republic, originally as part of Czechoslovakia and since 1993 in its own right, has been a member of the [[Visegrád Group]] and from 1995, the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]]. The Czech Republic joined [[NATO]] on 12 March 1999 and the [[European Union]] on 1 May 2004. On 21 December 2007 the Czech Republic joined the [[Schengen Area]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://factsmaps.com/eu-nato-schengen-eurozone-member-states-in-europe/|title=EU, NATO, Schengen and Eurozone member states in Europe|date=13 October 2018}}</ref> Until 2017, either the centre-left [[Czech Social Democratic Party]] or the centre-right [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]] led the governments of the Czech Republic. In October 2017, the populist movement [[ANO 2011]], led by the country's second-richest man, [[Andrej Babiš]], won the [[2017 Czech legislative election|elections]] with three times more votes than its closest rival, the Civic Democrats.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41708844|title = Czech election: Billionaire Babis wins by large margin|work = BBC News|date = 21 October 2017}}</ref> In December 2017, Czech president [[Miloš Zeman]] appointed Andrej Babiš as the new prime minister.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/czech-billionaire-andrej-babis-named-new-prime-minister/a-41680019|title = Czech billionaire Andrej Babis named new prime minister|date= 6 December 2017|website = [[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref> In the [[2021 Czech legislative election|2021 elections]], [[ANO 2011]] was narrowly defeated and [[Petr Fiala]] became the new prime minister.<ref>{{cite news |title=Czech Republic: Petr Fiala named new prime minister |date=28 November 2021 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/czech-republic-petr-fiala-named-new-prime-minister/a-59960529 |work=DW.COM}}</ref> He formed a government coalition of the alliance [[Spolu (Czech Republic)|SPOLU]] ([[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]], [[KDU-ČSL]] and [[TOP 09]]) and the alliance of [[Pirates and Mayors]]. In January 2023, retired general [[Petr Pavel]] won the [[2023 Czech presidential election|presidential election]], becoming new Czech president to succeed Miloš Zeman.<ref>{{cite news |title=Retired general Petr Pavel wins election to become Czech president |url=https://www.euronews.com/2023/01/28/retired-general-petr-pavel-wins-election-to-become-czech-president |work=euronews |date=28 January 2023}}</ref> Following the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the country took in half a million [[2022–2023 Ukrainian refugee crisis|Ukrainian refugees]], the largest number per capita in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Regional Refugee Response Plan for the Ukraine Situation – Inter-Agency Operational Update: Czech Republic, July – October 2022 |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/czechia/regional-refugee-response-plan-ukraine-situation-inter-agency-operational-update-czech-republic-july-october-2022 |website=reliefweb |date=17 November 2022 |publisher=UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Field |first1=Matt |title=Ukraine is fighting on behalf of all democracies |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukraine-is-fighting-on-behalf-of-all-democracies|website=GOV.UK |publisher=British Embassy Prague |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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