twelve BENTELER locations around the world are celebrating major anniversaries - Amongst the plant anniversaries are Burgos - All plants demonstrate: BENTELER's products originate from the region for the region This ensures customers get the best-possible on-the-spot support 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Twelve BENTELER locations have achieved significant milestones this year: From Chongqing China completing its first year of operation to Chrastava Each of these plants demonstrates BENTELER's local-for-local approach – that means being as close as possible to its business partners Not only in terms of geographical proximity Vice President Corporate Communications/Marketing "We congratulate our employees in the plants on their anniversaries they have successfully worked to develop BENTELER we have become a leading global partner of the automotive industry." BENTELER is also a partner for its local communities the company is one of the largest employers in the region BENTELER offers local employee development programs and collaborates with local educational institutions goods and services are mainly purchased locally BENTELER creates added value for the respective region Plant anniversaries illustrate BENTELER's metal-forming expertise Spain, the BENTELER plant is celebrating its 30th anniversary BENTELER España in Burgos was the company's first plant outside Germany The plant manufactures up to 16 million chassis and structural components per year the Burgos employees have processed over 400,000 tons of recycled steel – enough to build 164 Eiffel Towers the Chrastava plant in Czech Republic started production in 1999 manufacturing painted and unpainted components Over the last 20 years the paint line has coated 23.5 million sq meters of metal – enough to cover the whole of Slovenia the BENTELER plant is celebrating ten years of production the module assembly plant has welded over 4,000 kilometers of metal seams in the manufacture of components That's almost the distance from Kaluga to the BENTELER location in Chongqing which is celebrating its first birthday this year It produces rear subframes and steering components for a leading Chinese car manufacturer the plant has put seven different chassis assemblies into production and already delivered its 200,000th component the stack would be four times higher than Mount Everest customers benefit from more than 140 years of metal processing competence in steel and aluminum BENTELER uses this broad material expertise to develop cost-efficient and best-in-class manufacturing processes products from BENTELER can be found in almost every car worldwide The company's expertise in metal processing This way BENTELER supports its customers in the development of safe and eco-friendly mobility solutions family-owned company serving customers in automotive technology the energy sector and mechanical engineering produce and distribute safety-relevant products Under the management of the strategic holding BENTELER International AG the Group is organized into the Divisions BENTELER Automotive and BENTELER Steel/Tube Our around 30,000 employees at 96 locations in 28 countries offer first-class manufacturing and distribution competence – all dedicated to delivering a first-class service wherever our customers need us BENTELER. The family of driven professionals. Since 1876.www.benteler.com  BENTELER Automotive is the development partner for the world´s leading automobile manufacturers. With around 26,000 employees and more than 70 plants in about 25 countries we develop tailored solutions for our customers. Our products include components and modules in the areas of chassis, body, engine and exhaust systems, as well as solutions for electric vehicles. www.benteler-automotive.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1039924/Benteler_Metal_Proocessing.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1039923/BENTELER_Logo.jpg Contact: BENTELER International AG Birgit Held Vice President Corporate Communications/Marketing Salzburg, Austria Phone: +43-662-2283-101040Mobile: +43-664-88361890 E-Mail: [email protected] https://www.benteler.com Do not sell or share my personal information: A police officer holds a plastic gun used by a man to fire plastic pellets at Czech President Vaclav Klaus in the city of Chrastava September 28 The incident was happened on a bridge opening ceremony in Chrastava and Klaus was surrounded by the crowd at that time the attacker took a plastic gun which is used in game repeatedly squeezed the trigger and shot plastic pellets The attacker was later detained a few hundred meters from the place of the incident Klaus himself refused to comment on the incident and stayed at the ceremony to make his speech Klaus left for the Central Military Hospital to treat the slight injury of his arm "I was standing next to the president but I could see nothing I could hear a few clicks but I believed these were sounds on the nearby stage where a band was playing," Chrastava Mayor Michael said after the incident He said he heard Klaus reproaching his bodyguards words such as "you failed to react appropriately." A video presented by Czech local TV media showed a man in the crowd pulling out a pistol aiming at the passing-by president and squeezing the trigger several times Klaus looks surprised and then he turns to his bodyguard irritated said that politicians were "blind and deaf to people's complaints" and this was the only chance for him to show the dissatisfaction While many people may be familiar with Czechia's diplomatic relationship with Vietnam – the country is home to one of the largest Vietnamese communities in Europe – the story of how that connection began starts with the Vietnam War which like North Vietnam had a communist government played an important role in the war as a weapons supplier to the Viet Cong the forces that were fighting against America Czechoslovakia began to host Vietnamese students and workers involvement in the Cold War conflict began as early as 1955 The first programs to bring students from North Vietnam to Czechoslovakia began almost as soon as the war did and grew stronger as it continued A declassified CIA report from 1968 lists Czechoslovakia as a supplier of anti-aircraft weapons “Czechoslovakia reportedly has provided a number of armored personnel carriers but these have not yet been confirmed by observation,” the report stated During the Cold War era, Czechoslovakia was a “small arms powerhouse,” according to the foreign policy magazine The National Interest The small arms sent to North Vietnam mostly came from the Česká zbrojovka arms factory in Uherský Brod They included two types of small machine pistols The latter was similar to the Russian AK-47 but slightly more reliable Military cooperation began in 1956 with Czechoslovak aviators training the North Vietnamese air force in China with the Czech-built Aero Ae-45 Most of the children returned to Vietnam after the four-year program ended but a few stayed to continue their education and formed the basis of a Vietnamese community that remains in that town to this day "They even sent us money and a truckload of soup during the [2010] floods," he said More formal cooperation between the two nations began a decade later. Czechoslovakia and North Vietnam signed two treaties in 1967 that allowed Vietnamese people to work or study in Czechoslovakia People mainly worked in machine-building and light industries Going to Czechoslovakia was an alternative to mandatory military service Technical fields were the most popular choice These agreements ended with the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and many Vietnamese people had to return to their homeland This larger program helped to lay the seeds of the Vietnamese communities now found in Prague The Vietnam war also had an impact on America’s response to the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia which brought an end to the Prague Spring reforms aimed at creating “Socialism with a human face.” While the U.S. at the time talked tough about fighting communism worldwide, its response to the invasion was muted since the country was already caught up in the unpopular Vietnam War and had no capacity to get directly involved in another conflict President Lyndon Johnson was hoping to improve relations with the Soviet Union through negotiations and even hoped to talk the Soviet Union out of supplying arms to North Vietnam “The USA believed that if they acted behind the Iron Curtain, the USSR would see support to Czechoslovakia as an ‘act of war,’” the BBC said in a historical background article The U.S. instead continued with its policy of “détente,” with an emphasis on nuclear missile treaties. Britain, which was not involved in the Vietnam War, similarly took a soft approach so as not to threaten détente efforts Your morning coffee deserves a great companion. Why not enjoy it with our daily newsletter? News from Czechia, curated insights, and inspiring stories in English. Not many Czech towns of 6,000 might push “pin-up” calendars featuring local women but Chrastava has put a novel spin on turning disaster into development The town is still reeling from the devastation wrought when fierce rains turned a local river into a raging waterway flooding 200 homes in this northern locality right near the Polish and German borders Damage is estimated at 1.5 billion koruna ($81 million) but relief funds from the central government have been slow to arrive 100 kilometres north of the capital Prague including a new – if eccentric – footbridge to replace the old one washed away in the floods: a rickety You operate it at your own risk,” admitted Mayor Michael Canov as he carefully entered the swinging wooden cage hanging on a steel pipe mounted to a frame He gripped a rope at waist level and pulled hand-over-hand to set the cage or “gondola” in motion drawing it across the river to a hill with a train stop and castle ruins popular with tourists But it will help local people a lot,” beamed the 49-year-old Mr Canov donated his plan to Czech towns that lost pedestrian bridges He said he drew inspiration from similar projects in Germany “They have been used for a long time,” said Mr Rajnis “But this is the only ‘transporter bridge’ in the Czech Republic it’s the only one anywhere that’s made of wood.” in less than a week thanks to money raised by a group of Czech entrepreneurs But Chrastava is not only relying on help from on outsiders A group of 12 local women produced a fund-raising “flood calendar” posing – modestly by pinup standards – in overalls and rubber boots as they take a break from cleaning up flood debris “Many people helped us and we in turn wanted to help someone else,” said Klara Sehnoutkova “These all were ordinary girls posing in ordinary situations,” said the 31-year-old “Miss May” She said a first print run of 2,000 was selling well we decided to use the proceeds to help children – the kindergarten the young footballers and a playground,” said Ms Sehnoutkova who expects to return to her badly damaged house early next year found her models among friends and on a town website list of flooded households A local photographer took the pictures for free They are looking for distraction because they were hit so badly by the flood.’ So of course I liked the idea,” said Mr Canov Another local woman has sponsored a collection of “flood postcards” showing damaged houses with proceeds from sales to help flood victims Despite the positive note to the initiatives Mr Canov has much to worry about – most repairs are temporary and urgent pleas to the regional development ministry have failed to speed up aid please register for free or log in to your account.