Morning Briefing │ Monday, February 12th, 2024

* POLITICS:

Former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš says he will be ANO’s electoral leader and candidate for PM in next year’s general elections.

However, he told CNN Prima News on Sunday that if his presence in those positions was a problem for the party he would stand aside.

* REAL ESTATE:

The number of apartments and houses sold in Czechia last year was the lowest since 2015, according to data from Valuo, a website that processes data from land registry offices and advertisements.

The number of flats sold was down 9 percent year-on-year in 2023, while house sales were 17 percent lower, it said.

* SOCIETY:

The Czech government has agreed to increase care allowances as of July this year. The planned increase would not be across the board but would vary according to the level of dependency, going up from 11 to 40 percent.

The allowance is intended for disabled and elderly people to help them cover the cost of care in a social facility or at home.

* NATO:

Republican frontrunner and former US president Donald Trump’s recent comments about how he would not protect NATO countries that do not abide by their spending obligations if he were to be re-elected led to Czech MEP Mikuláš Peksa (Pirates, Greens/EFA) calling for a European army.

“Europe needs its own army. Donald Trump’s protection cannot be relied upon,” Peksa wrote in reaction to media reports about Trump’s comments on X.

* PRAGUE 10:

Prague’s 10th district has adopted a new visual identity centered around the Roman numeral X, signaling a modern and unified approach to communication.

The district recently concluded a design competition, and selected a proposal by design studio MadLove featuring the prominent use of the Roman numeral X as its main visual element. This bold choice signifies a departure from Prague 10’s previous use of the district’s official seal for communication.