News

South Bohemian governor Martin Kuba is leaving the Civic Democratic Party and intends to found a new political movement. His departure ends weeks of speculation over whether he might challenge outgoing Transport Minister and party vice-chair Martin Kupka, for the top party post.

Kuba said his view of politics has diverged from that of the party leadership. He announced his decision on his Facebook account, adding that he has informed colleagues in the regional assembly and plans to continue serving as governor. He has been a strong critic of the party leadership under Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

In last autumn’s regional elections, the Civic Democrats scored more than 47 percent in South Bohemia, with Kuba emerging as the clear winner.

Parties from the outgoing governing coalition have slammed the Organizing Committee of the lower house for rejecting a number of foreign trips tied to NATO and the European Union events. The decision, announced on Wednesday, means that Czechia will not send representatives to the Transatlantic Forum of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly next year. Outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala described the decision as disgraceful and a gamble with national security. Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called the move unprecedented, warning that the Czech Republic is hurting its own interests.

The newly-elected Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Tomio Okamura countered that the lower house would not serve as a “travel agency,” as he claimed it had under the leadership of his predecessor Markéta Pekarová Adamová.

President Petr Pavel will meet the first three candidates for ministerial posts in the planned ANO–SPD–Motorists government on Friday. According to the presidential office, he will receive Robert Plaga, nominated by ANO to return as education minister, former health minister Adam Vojtěch, and Jeroným Tejc, the Motorists’ candidate for justice.

ANO leader and likely next prime minister, Andrej Babiš, presented the full list of nominees on Wednesday. Informal consultations with the president may continue until 10 December.

Pavel is ready to appoint Babiš as prime minister within a week after the proposed solution to his Agrofert conflict of interest and to name the cabinet shortly after. He has repeated his reservations about Filip Turek, the Motorists’ honorary president, citing legal concerns.

Online aggression among children in Czechia is increasing, according to research carried out by the Safer Internet Centre in cooperation with Palacký University in Olomouc, which was presented on Thursday.

According to the survey, more than half of children have experienced verbal abuse online, making it the most common form of aggression. A third reported the sharing of humiliating photos, followed by threats, nuisance calls and, in 18 percent of cases, humiliating videos. Experts say these behaviours are now widespread across age groups and often happen repeatedly.

The study also found that most online attacks come from peers in the same  class. For girls, a former friend or partner is often involved, and in many cases the aggressor is someone they only know online.