Morning Briefing │ Thursday, April 25th, 2024

* POLITICS:

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit Prague on Tuesday 30 April. Von der Leyen ’s visit is part of her election campaign for the European People’s Party and her own bid for a second term in office as President of the European Commission. In Prague she is to meet with representatives of parties running in the elections, especially from TOP 09 and the Christian Democrats which are in the EPP.

* CLIMATE:

Sub degree temperatures continue to cause problems around the country with monitoring stations reporting night time lows of -10 to – 15 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country and fresh snow in the mountain regions. Farmers are concerned about the effects of the cold spell on this year’s harvest with some predicting losses of up to 40 percent.

* WEATHER:

Thursday is expected to be overcast and cloudy with a chance of rain. Daytime temperatures should range between 4 and 10 degrees Celsius.

* TRAVEL:

SCAT Airlines is set to resume flights between the capitals of Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic on the route Astana – Prague from May 22. Flights will be operated twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays on Boeing 737 aircraft, designed for 186-189 passengers.

* POLITICS:

The European Commission has appointed former Czech environment minister Jan Dusík as Deputy Director-General for Climate Action. The main mission of this department is to support the Commission’s efforts to fight climate change both within the EU and internationally. Dusik, who has extensive professional experience in the area of climate action, is now among the highest-ranking Czech officials in the EU.