Castle budget to remain without changes

The parliamentary budget committee has voted down a proposal by its deputy chairman Jan Volný (ANO) to lower the budget for the Office of the President by about one million crowns. MP Volný wanted to re-allocate the money to the Justice Ministry, since it recently took over the agenda of state pardons from the President and will require more staff. Only half of the members of the budget committee voted for the proposal. Prague Castle was criticized for spending three times as much on entertainment this year than was originally planned. The president’s chancellor Vladimír Mynář said that expenditure of around 1.5 million for hosting visitors in 2013 is due to the fact that Miloš Zeman has held more official events at Prague Castle than his predecessor, since taking office in March.