Morning News: Friday, February 24, 2023

Czechia has the most per capital Ukrainian refugees with temporary protection status in the whole of the European Union, the Czech Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday, citing Eurostat. Temporary protection visas give the refugees access to health insurance, education and the labour market.

The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, says Russia must withdraw unconditionally from the whole of Ukraine. In an address to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Mr. Lipavský said Russia’s aggression, which has now been going on for a year, had caused unimaginable suffering both in Ukraine and elsewhere.

 In 2021, the housing share of disposable income in the EU was on average 19%, while for people at risk of poverty, it was 38%, show the most recent findings of the European Statistical Office Eurostat. People at risk of poverty are defined by Eurostat as “those living below the poverty threshold set at 60% of the national median disposable income.”

A total of 71 percent of respondents of the February public opinion poll expect Petr Pavel to be a better head of state than current president Milos Zeman. Pavel receives a positive evaluation also from one-third of supporters of his unsuccessful rival in the presidential runoff vote Andrej Babis, the senior opposition ANO head and former PM.

President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Petr Fiala in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. They talked about co-operation in various fields that will serve the interests of both countries.