Morning Briefing │ Tuesday, February 27th, 2024

* LAWS:

The European Commission (EC) has confirmed the Czech government’s decision regarding adding the psychoactive substances HHC, HHC-O and THCP to the list of substances banned in the country, the Ministry of Health has announced. The ban on the sale and possession of these substances will probably come into effect at the beginning of March.

* FROM ABROAD:

Three Czech citizens have died in an avalanche on the border of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Monday. According to the Russian News Agency TASS, the accident took place in the Jyrgalang valley in Kyrgyzstan, near the border with Kazakhstan and China.

* ENERGY:

Czech gas consumption fell last year to its lowest levels since 1992, decreasing more than 10% as customers cut back further amid a savings drive since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s Energy Regulatory Office (ERU) said on Monday.

The Czech Republic has diversified away from near total dependency on Russian gas since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, turning to gas from Norway and LNG, mainly through a terminal in the Netherlands.

* UKRAINE:

Czech President Petr Pavel granted permission for 20 Czech citizens to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Czech Radio reported.

Former Czech President Miloš Zeman authorized 132 Czech citizens to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

* V4:

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala is set to host his counterparts Slovakia, Poland and Hungary in Prague on Tuesday.

The meeting of the Visegrad Four leaders comes against a backdrop of calls to cancel the summit after Slovakia’s Robert Fico made a speech widely seen as pro-Russian.