The Czech minister of the interior, Vít Rakušan, says this winter could see a large new wave of refugees from Ukraine in view of the state of the infrastructure in the country. “If the numbers approached those seen in the first wave following Russia’s invasion it would be difficult for Czechia to deal with the arrivals,” he added.

Czechs have the best relationship with Slovakia, followed by Switzerland and Austria, while the war in Ukraine has significantly worsened Czech public attitudes towards Russia, which is now the least positively viewed by Czechs, according to a poll conducted by the STEM agency.

Czech-grown Christmas trees are set to go up in price by around 10 percent this year, the Association of Christmas Tree Growers told the Czech News Agency. The reasons are increased costs of energy, transport and fertilisers.

The energy company E.ON will also increase the price of electricity and gas supplies from the new year.  As with other suppliers, most customers will pay a capped price for energy.  Customers with normal consumption will pay about CZK 300 a month extra.

The Czech minister of health, Vlastimil Válek, says those who test positive for Covid-19 may not need to enter isolation in future. He could imagine the move being made in the first half of next year.