• Billionaire Michal Strnad becomes majority owner of Viktoria Plzeň
    09/26/2025

    Billionaire Michal Strnad is the new majority owner of Czech football club Viktoria Plzeň. He bought the club from the Austrian-Swiss group FCVP GmbH. Adolf Šádek remains chairman and CEO, keeping a minority stake alongside Swiss investor Martin Dellenbach, the club confirmed in a press release on Friday.

    Speculation about a new owner had been circulating for some time. Thirty-three-year-old Strnad, one of the richest Czechs, owns the arms holding company CSG. Forbes ranks him fourth on the list of Czech billionaires, while Euro magazine estimates his fortune at CZK 330 billion.

    FCVP GmbH sold its majority stake after just two years. The sale price was not disclosed. Viktoria Plzeň stressed this is a private investment by Strnad and will not be part of the CSG group.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • European Commission pays Czechia €1.6 billion from recovery fund
    09/26/2025

    The European Commission has released €1.6 billion (CZK 38.9 billion) to Czechia from the EU Recovery and Resilience Fund, aimed at easing economic fallout from the crisis. The fourth payment supports projects in energy, grid infrastructure, and healthcare.

    The Czech government sent its fourth request on June 16, outlining dozens of reforms and investments to boost energy, healthcare, and infrastructure. Funds will go toward modernizing renewable energy facilities, electricity storage, and building or upgrading healthcare facilities, including rehabilitation services.

    The RRF is part of the EU’s NextGeneration EU plan, providing extraordinary post-pandemic support. The funds support the Czech National Recovery Plan.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Survey: Spolu coalition loses half of voters, ANO and SPD maintain support
    09/26/2025

    The Czech governing coalition Spolu (Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats, TOP 09) has lost about half of its voters since the last parliamentary elections. Opposition party ANO has retained 71% of its supporters, while the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) has kept two-thirds, according to a STEM/MARK survey for the H21 Institute, conducted in September among 1,407 adults.

    About 14% of former Spolu voters have shifted to the Mayors and Independents (STAN). From supporters of the former coalition of STAN and the Pirate Party, 39% would now support the Pirates, while 29% would back STAN.

    New parties like the Motorists attract mainly former Spolu, ANO, Přísaha and Trikolóra voters, as well as non-voters, who make up 71% of their support. The Stačilo! coalition relies mainly on former voters of the Communist party.

    First-time voters are mostly attracted to government parties, including the Pirates, who are now in opposition. Non-voters from the last elections are mainly drawn to ANO.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czech European Researchers’ Night marks 20 years with events across the country
    09/26/2025

    Czech European Researchers’ Night gets underway across the country on Friday, marking 20 years of the popular science festival. Dozens of cities will host free evening events that bring science closer to the public in fun and engaging ways.

    Visitors can explore tropical invertebrates, step into a microbiology lab or learn the basics of genetics. The programme also features workshops, science games, quizzes, exhibitions, film screenings, discussions and guided tours.

    Schools of all levels, research institutes, museums, libraries, observatories and planetariums are taking part. The event was first held in Czechia in 2005 and has grown into one of the nation’s largest science outreach celebrations.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Weather forecast
    09/26/2025

    Saturday will be cloudy to overcast, with isolated drizzle. High temperatures will range from 14 to 19 °C, around 12 °C in higher elevations.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Plzeň draws 1-1 with Ferencváros in Budapest
    09/26/2025

    Plzeň lost their lead in a long power play and drew 1-1 with Ferencváros in the opening Europa League group match. Rafiu Durosinmi put Plzeň ahead after 15 minutes, but substitute Aleksandar Pešić equalized in the fourth minute of stoppage time, despite the Hungarian side playing with ten men from the 37th minute.

    Plzeň has yet to win at Ferencváros’ stadium in European competition. They were also coming off a 1-2 league defeat at Sparta Prague.

    Next week, Plzeň will host Malmö. Under the current system, 36 Europa League teams form a single table, with 24 advancing to the knockout stage. Both teams dropped into the Europa League after losing in Champions League qualifying.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Wandering moose Emil crosses Czech-German border, heads northwest
    09/26/2025

    Moose Emil, who captured public attention while roaming across Czechia and Austria this summer, is now moving along the Czech-German border. He’s crossing between Šumava National Park and the Bavarian Forest, heading northwest, park spokesman Jan Dvořák told the Czech News Agency.

    Emil began his journey in Poland, later roaming through Slovakia and Austria, covering more than 500 kilometres. When he tried to approach a motorway on his return to Czechia, rangers sedated him, fitted him with a GPS collar, and relocated him to the Lipno Reservoir area, home to about 15 moose.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Finále Plzeň film festival opens its 38th edition
    09/26/2025

    The 38th Finále Plzeň film festival, devoted to Czech and Slovak cinema, gets underway in the West Bohemian city on Friday. Over the next six days, around 100 films, documentaries, and TV and online projects will be shown in 150 screenings, including 30 premieres and pre-premieres.

    Nine feature films, nine documentaries, 13 TV and online projects, and 12 student shorts will compete for the Golden Kingfisher awards. The international juries include notable names such as American screenwriter Eric Kaplan, known for Futurama and The Big Bang Theory.

    The festival also welcomes numerous filmmakers, giving audiences the chance to discuss the films. This year, the number of official guests is expected to approach a record one thousand.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czech baseball team eyes historic medal in European Championship
    09/26/2025

    The Czech baseball team faces Italy in the semifinals of the European Championship in Rotterdam on Friday, with a chance to secure the first medal in the country’s history. In the other semifinal, host nation the Netherlands will play against Spain. The Czechs advanced to their first-ever semifinal after Thursday’s dramatic 4–3 win over Israel. Earlier in the tournament, coach Pavel Chadim’s squad defeated Sweden and Spain, falling only in the opening game against Germany. The best Czech finish at a European Championship to date was fourth place in 2014, when the final round featured six teams.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Opposition ANO party slips to lowest support this year, but maintains lead in polls
    09/26/2025

    The opposition ANO party has fallen to 28 percent in the latest STEM poll, marking its weakest result since January, when the agency began conducting surveys. Despite the drop, ANO continues to lead comfortably, with the ruling coalition Spolu in second place at 21 percent. The anti-EU, anti-migrant SPD is third with 13.8 percent support, followed by Mayors and Independents (STAN) with 12.2 percent and the Pirate Party with 9.8 percent. Motorists and Stačilo! would also cross the 5 percent threshold needed to win seats in the lower house, with 5.6 and 5.5 percent respectively.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

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