* EURO: Prime Minister Petr Fiala has announced that Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvořák will not appoint a commissioner for Czechia to join the European exchange-rate mechanism (ERM II) and adopt the euro. On Monday, Dvořák appointed an economist as his commissioner for euro adoption, which angered many coalition partners. * POLITICS: A Prague local politician, Pavel Novotný, is facing court over comments he made about Palestinians on the internet, Czech Television reported on Tuesday. The Civic Democrat mayor of the Řeporyje district said on X (formerly Twitter) in December that Palestinians were nothing but monkeys. In response to a reply he said the Palestinians should be bombed. * NATO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to attend an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague in May, Seznam Zprávy reported. The gathering will be the biggest NATO event in Prague since a summit in 2002 and comes as Czechia marks 25 years of membership and the alliance marks 75 years of existence. * ENERGY: The Czech government expects to negotiate with the opposition ANO on the construction of new nuclear units, but is bound by confidentiality rules until the tender is concluded, Finance Minister Zbynek...
* HEALTH: The Czech health ministry has announced it is preparing to ban the sale of sweets containing the psychoactive substance HHC which is now freely available in vending machines. There have been close to a dozen cases in the past fortnight of young people being rushed to hospital after overdosing on them. Some of the youngsters ended up in intensive care. The symptoms include vomiting, confusion and partial memory loss that may last for up to 48 hours. * BUSINESS: During the first month of this year, 59 bankruptcies of commercial companies were declared in the Czech Republic and 78 insolvency petitions were filed. Most corporate bankruptcies were recorded in Prague in January. This is based on the analysis of data from the www.informaceofirmach.cz portal conducted by CRIF. * ECONOMY: Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák has appointed one of the country’s leading economists, Petr Zahradník, commissioner for joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) and adopting the euro. The commissioner’s main task will be to engage in a public debate on euro adoption and explain why it is in the country’s best interests to fulfil the Maastricht criteria, as soon as possible. * CRIME: Last year, there...
* UKRAINE: The Czech Republic is urging the European Union to procure ammunition for Ukraine from sources outside the EU, as reported by Politico, citing diplomats. Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský asserted the logical nature of such a request, emphasizing the need for Ukraine to bolster its defense against Russian aggression. * SPORT: The Czech men’s tennis team beat Israel on Sunday at the Davis Cup qualifiers in Vendryně, North Moravia, to advance to the group stage of the annual competition. Last year, Czechia made it to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup before being knocked out by Australia. * IMMIGRATION: After four months of keeping border controls in place with Slovakia to curb migration, Czechia’s government decided to abolish them. The removal of border checks has been officially confirmed by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Border controls have been in place upon an announcement to the European Commission by Czechia’s Ministry of the Interior since October 4, 2023, mainly due to concerns about irregular migration. * NEW LAW: Large companies in Czechia will have to ensure a more balanced share of men and women in leadership positions if a proposed bill published on the government’s website is approved. According to...
* PRAGUE: Prague’s Kotva department store is due to close on Thursday for a two-year reconstruction. Following the overhaul, the building will accommodate luxury shops and offices. The area surrounding Kotva will also undergo a major transformation. * POLICE: The Czech police collected almost twice as much money in fines issued for driving offences this January as they did during the same month last year. A new points system that was introduced this year to try to deter drivers from committing serious offences on the roads seems not to have had the desired effect so far. The police recorded over 32,000 driving offences in January and collected over CZK 473 million in fines, almost double the amount compared to last January. * HEALTH: A two-year-old Czech boy with a rare genetic disorder, whose treatment was paid for with public donations of more than 150 million crowns, underwent gene therapy in France on Wednesday. The child’s parents announced that the procedure at a hospital in Montpellier had been successful and thanked the doctors for their care and the public for their support. * CULTURE: Prague can resume negotiations with Crestyl regarding the placement of Alfons Mucha’s Slavic Epic in Savarin Palace...
* PRAGUE: Prague’s Kotva department store is due to close on Thursday for a two-year reconstruction. Following the overhaul, the building will accommodate luxury shops and offices. The area surrounding Kotva will also undergo a major transformation. * HEALTH: A total of 57,000 people died in Czechia in the first six months of last year, which was five percent fewer than in the previous year and about the same number as in 2020, the Czech Statistics Office announced in a press release on Wednesday. The three most common causes of death were cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease, heart attack and brain stroke. * POLITICS: The Czech government on Wednesday approved an increase in the Education Ministry’s budget by four million crowns, Education Minister Mikuláš Bek announced on X (formerly Twitter). The ministry’s budget was initially set at CZK 269 billion this year, which is CZK 3.9 billion more than in the previous year. * CRIME: The Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NUKIB) recorded 262 cyber attacks last year, which is the record for a single year, and almost double the figure from 2022 when 146 attacks were recorded, according to data published today on the NUKIB website....
* NEWS: Three people fell from the northern side of Mount Sněžka, on the border of Czechia and Poland, on Tuesday. Two of those involved in the accident died when they slipped on a mountain slope, according to the website of the Polish station TVN24, which cited police on the Polish side of the border. * ECONOMY: The Czech economy contracted last year by 0.4 percent, according to a preliminary estimate issued by the Czech Statistics Office on Tuesday. That followed growth in gross domestic product of 2.4 percent in 2022. Analysts said last year’s contraction was caused by high inflation. * RANKINGS: Czechia has slightly improved its standing in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by Transparency International. The country scored 57 out of a possible 100 points, compared to 56 in 2022. According to Transparency Czech Republic, the lack in significant progress in addressing corruption in this country is “a long-term absence of an effective strategy on the part of this and past governments”. * JOB MARKET: Brno-based travel agency and flight-search platform Kiwi.com has announced a wave of job cuts which will affect 18% of employees, in what the company describes as an “operational restructure”. Founded in...
* HEALTH: The number of acute respiratory infections in Czechia have reached epidemic levels, according to Health Ministry Data. Doctors have reported a 23 percent increase in patients in a week-on-week comparison with 1,748 patients per 100 000 inhabitants. The epidemic threshold is considered to be between 1,600 and 1,800 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. * DEFENSE: The Czech Republic’s government has signed an agreement with the United States to acquire 24 U.S. F-35 fighter jets as part of a deal worth about $6.6 billion, the biggest single purchase for the Czech military. This decision positions the Czech Republic as the 18th nation to join the program. * JOB MARKET: According to the data provided by the labour office of Czechia, the number of foreign workers in the country reached a total of 823,945 in December of last year, 30,700 more than in 2022. Moreover, such a number recorded at the end of last year is 2.5 times more than in 2015, and the increase is mainly attributed to arrivals from Ukraine. * ECONOMY: In 2023, 28,960 companies were established in the Czech Republic, 662 more than in 2022. 16,063 companies were dissolved, 1,677 more than in the previous year, the...
* PRICES: Fuel in the Czech Republic started to become slightly more expensive again in the new year. Compared to last week, petrol is almost 40 cents more expensive on average, while diesel is similarly rising to CZK 37 per litre. Drivers pay the most when filling up in Prague, while for the cheapest petrol and diesel can be found Ústí nad Labem. * INFLATION: Food prices in Czechia have stabilized and there is no reason for them to grow further, Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný said on Sunday, adding that he will be keeping a close eye on food price trends. The reduction in VAT on food products from 15 to 12 percent, which has been in force since the beginning of the year, has had a positive impact on prices of food. * POLITICS: President Petr Pavel has declared Friday, 7 June and Saturday, 8 June as the dates of this year’s European Parliament elections in the Czech Republic. It was up to Pavel to officially declare the election, but he was bound by agreements on the date of the election at the European level, and by Czech electoral law determining the choice of election date. * SPORT: Czech...
* POLITICS: President Petr Pavel has indicated he will not run for a second term as head of state, the news site Novinky.cz reported. At a public debate in the Plzeň Region on Tuesday evening he said that one five-year term, if one carried it out to the full, would suffice. * SPORT: Slavia Praha has pulled out of a friendly match against current Slovak league champions Slovan Bratislava after the latter played a game against a Russian club in Qatar this month. The move drew criticism, including in Ukraine where Ukrainian football teams called on Slovan to not go ahead with the match. Taking to social media, FC Karpaty Lviv posted a photo of a stadium hit by Russian rockets. * EVENTS: The Smashing Pumpkins, icons of the 90s grunge scene in the United States, are returning to Prague after five years with a show at the O2 Universum on 4 July. Led by frontman Billy Corgan, the band formed in Chicago in 1988, and have since released 12 studio albums, selling a total of 30 million copies worldwide. The show in Prague is part of the 22-date European leg of the band’s “The World is a Vampire” tour....
* LAWS: Several dozen Czech experts from the fields of law, medicine, and psychology have publicly called for the tightening of legislation surrounding the possession of firearms. In an online petition with the title “Nesmí se to opakovat” (It must not happen again), the signatories call not only for a fundamental reduction in the number of legally held weapons, but also for the simplification of the rules governing the permanent withdrawal of a firearms license. * INFLATION: The price of draught beer in Czech pubs, restaurants, and bars has significantly increased, with an average rise of ten percent year-on-year in mid-January. The price hike between December and January alone saw an average four percent increase, equating to more than two crowns. * CULTURE: The Year of Forman project, launched this week, reaches its pinnacle with the June 18 premiere of a performance about the life of director Miloš Forman at Museum Kampa’s courtyard. Patrik Děrgel and Marek Adamczyk portray the renowned filmmaker. The forthcoming Forman theater production will run from June 18 to late July on the Summer Stage of the Kampa Museum. In addition to the live performance, selected cinemas will participate in the Year of Forman by screening...
* E-DOKLADY: Over 100,000 people downloaded the eDoklady application to create an electronic ID card on their mobile phone over the weekend, according to the Digital Information Agency. The new app became available for download on Saturday and many of those who tried to download it experienced problems due to server overload. According to Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization Ivan Bartoš problems with Microsoft’s Azure cloud technology, which affected all of Europe, also contributed to the outages. * MOBILITY: In Prague, it is now possible to buy a long-term travel pass with the Lítačka card at the yellow ticket machines installed at all metro stations, at Václav Havel Airport, and at some tram and bus stops. To buy a pass, you need to put your Litacka card into the reader panel and then select the period and zone of validity of the pass (all options for Prague and zone 0 are available). Only contactless bank cards are accepted. * WEATHER: After a period of frost, the Czech Republic anticipates a temperature rise with highs of 3 to 7°C on Tuesday and 8 to 12°C on Wednesday. The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute warns of freezing precipitation and strong winds up to 90...
* UNIVERSITY SHOOTING: Exactly one month after the tragic event at the Prague Faculty of Arts, Charles University held an event to honour the memory of the victims at a memorial site outside the building. The return to the building will be gradual, with many lectures due to take place in other facilities or online in the coming semester. On December 21, a lone gunman who was a student of the faculty, went on a rampage, killing 14 people and injuring 25 before committing suicide. * ECONOMY: Two-thirds of Czechs think that euro adoption would hurt them financially, according to a flash poll conducted by the Median agency for Czech Radio. Forty-two percent of respondents were absolutely convinced about this, 26 percent said it was highly likely. Of the 21 percent who think euro adoption would benefit them, 8 percent are absolutely convinced this would be the case while 13 percent are inclined to think so. * REAL ESTATE: Experts predict a reversal in the downward trend of apartment prices in the Czech Republic after a period of reductions, with expectations of a gradual increase throughout the year. Following years of substantial growth, selected apartments witnessed a decline in prices...
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