Daily news summary
PM Babiš floats idea of Czech troops serving in combat operations
Speaking to journalists following his address to the Peace Forum in Paris, Prime Minister Babiš said that in the past Czech troops had been directly involved in NATO’s combat operations against international terrorism and it might be time to consider sending them into direct combat again.
He said this was a sensitive political decision that would have to be discussed both at home and with the country’s NATO allies.
At present Czech troops are serving in a number of foreign missions, such as Afghanistan and Mali, where they are involved mainly in training of local security forces and patrolling.
Czech PM visits Centre Pompidou in Paris
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, on Monday wound up his three-day visit to Paris, at the Pompidou Centre where in a discussion with its head Serge Lasvignes he expressed the desire to one day open a branch of the centre in Prague. Later today he will fly to Palermo, Italy where he is to take part in an international conference on the situation in Libya.
New Prague leadership signs coalition agreement
Representatives of the Pirate Party, the civic movement Praha sobě and the Allied Forces for Prague (comprising TOP 09, the Christian Democrats and Mayors and Independents) which have been in talks on forming a new Prague government signed a coalition agreement and policy program statement on Monday.
Zdeněk Hřib of the Pirate Party is to be the new mayor of Prague.
The Civic Democrats, who won the communal elections in Prague, were by-passed and will go into the opposition.
Incoming Prague mayor opposed to idea of government quarter in city
The incoming mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib from the Pirate Party, is against the prime minister’s idea of creating a government quarter in Prague. Mr. Hřib said at a press briefing on Monday that he did not approve of creating a monothematic quarter in any part of the city.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš who has long propagated the idea of a new government quarter which would bring together over eleven thousand public service employees, save operation costs and allow the sell-off of lucrative real estate in the centre of the city, has run into problems finding an appropriate location.
His plan to build such a quarter in Prague’s Letnany district was criticized by the Institute for Planning and Development and his idea of locating it in Holešovice is opposed by the mayor of that district Jan Čižinský.
Babiš wrote on Twitter on Monday that he would like to exchange real estate in some part of Prague in return for Veleslavín Chateau.
Hungarian foreign minister to visit Prague
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will visit the Czech Republic on Friday, November 16th for talks with his Czech counterpart, Tomáš Petříček, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Transport Minister Dan Ťok, the ctk news agency reported.
The Czech Republic and Hungary cooperate closely within the Visegrad Group states. They have a similar stand on the migrant crisis, both reject mandatory migrant quotas and both are unwilling to sign the UN’s Global Compact for Migration, citing ambiguities in its interpretation.
Most Czech households have no trouble meeting their financial needs
The number of Czech families who have a problem making ends meet on their family budget has dropped to its lowest since 2012, according to the results of a survey conducted by the CVVM agency.
Fifty-four percent of respondents said they had no trouble meeting their needs on their present income, while 43 percent said this presented a difficulty. Twenty-two percent of households consider themselves poor, and 12 percent are in serious financial straits.
The number of households which consider themselves poor in the over-60 age bracket is 32 percent. According to CVVM, the financial situation of Czech households has gradually been improving since 2012.
Weather forecast
Tuesday should be overcast around most of the country with scattered showers and day temperatures between 9 and 13 degrees Celsius.
