Morning Briefing │ Wednesday, March 27th, 2024

* INTELLIGENCE:

The current security situation is the worst since World War II, the head of the Czech Counter Intelligence Service (BIS) Michal Koudelka said following a meeting with President Pavel on Tuesday. He said Russian expansionism and the possible return of Islamic terrorism to Europe are major threats to European democracies.

* CULTURE:

Bohumil Hrabal’s newly-renovated cottage in Kersko in the Nymburk region will open to the public on May 18, on the occasion of the Hrabal Kersko Festival. The cottage is being restored to its original state when the late Czech author spent his summers there. Hrabal bought the cottage, where he wrote most of his books, in 1965. He died on February 3, 1997.

* TRAVEL:

A new overnight train connection from Prague to Brussels was launched yesterday. The new direct line connects the metropolises of the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium on one route. The journey takes 15 hours. European Sleeper will use its trains to connect the route from Prague via Ústí nad Labem, Děčín, Dresden, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp to Brussels and back three times a week.

* UKRAINE:

Slovenia will support the Czech initiative to purchase shells for Ukraine from outside the European Union, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said on Tuesday during a working visit to Ljubljana. According to the Slovenian news agency, the government will allocate one million euros in support of the project.

* EDUCATION:

About 411,000 Czechs have participated in international exchanges as part of the European Erasmus+ scholarship programme in the last 25 years. By 2023, the programme had taken university students on 121,540 study visits and 22,628 practical placements. Staff from Czech universities went on more than 56,800 training and educational trips.