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Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) said President Petr Pavel acted “like a bull in a china shop” by publicly offering aircrafts and other equipment to Ukraine without consulting the governing coalition.

Speaking on Czech Television, Macinka criticised Pavel for raising the issue during a visit to Ukraine, where he offered several small aircrafts for drone defence, early-warning systems and energy generators. Macinka said coalition partners had not been informed and that by making the offer public the president not only stepped out of line of his duties as president, but also reduced the chances of it being approved.

President Petr Pavel rejected the criticism, saying it was Ukraine that proposed buying L-159 aircrafts, which he described as an opportunity for the Czech manufacturer. He made the comments to journalists ahead of his departure for the Vatican.

Coalition leaders from ANO, SPD and the Motorists are set to discuss the matter on Monday.

A new study by the think-tank CEIAS, which focuses on Europe–Asia relations, finds that Czechia holds several EU firsts in its relationship with Taiwan and is regarded as one of the island’s strongest European allies. The study adds that these ties are unlikely to be affected by the recent change of government in Prague.

Among these firsts was the 2020 visit to Taiwan by Miloš Vystrčil, the first speaker of an upper parliamentary chamber from an EU member state to do so. Czechia also recorded the first phone call between a newly elected European head of state and a Taiwanese president, when Petr Pavel spoke with Tsai Ing-wen, and opened the first European think-tank with a permanent presence in Taiwan through the Prague-based European Values Centre.

The relationship has helped boost Taiwanese investment in Czechia, which totalled more than CZK 19.4bn between 1995 and 2022 and created around 24,000 jobs.

The government will begin preparatory steps to buy out minority shareholders and fully nationalise the energy company ČEZ, Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček (ANO) said on Czech Television. He said the process would take up to two years but declined to give details, citing the potential impact on the company’s share price.

The state, through the Ministry of Finance, currently owns around 70% of ČEZ, with the remainder held by minority investors. The governing coalition has pledged to secure full state control of the company. Havlíček also said the government plans to replace members of ČEZ’s supervisory board.

Czech figure skater Georgii Reshtenko has won a surprise bronze medal at the European Championships, securing the country’s first medal at the event in 13 years. The free skate category in Sheffield lifted him from eighth place after the short programme to the third. Reshtenko is only the fourth Czech medallist in the history of the European Figure Skating Championships since 1993.