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The Pirate Party of the governing coalition has strongly rejected a proposal put forward by their coalition partner, the Christian Democrats, to increase social insurance contributions for childless people. They say the plan is controversial and unjust, since it would punish people who cannot or do not want to have children. Pirate Party leader Ivan Bartoš said that in his opinion the state should rather focus on helping parents with things like available crèches and kindergartens and flexible working hours.

Russian imperialism is the greatest threat to European security and it is in Europe's vested interest to help Ukraine defend itself, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said after a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó in Budapest on Friday. Szijjártó reiterated Hungary's position, saying that Hungary refuses to supply arms to Ukraine because military supplies will only prolong the war. He once again stressed the need for peace talks. Ahead of their meeting, the Czech head of diplomacy said that it is important to maintain dialogue with Hungary, despite their differing views on the war in Ukraine. The two sides also discussed bilateral and regional cooperation.

Czech chemical company Synthesia plans to increase its production of nitrocellulose, a key material needed for the production of gunpowder, by 16 percent from the 6,000 tonnes a year it currently produces, Czech daily e15 reports. The company has already started investing in increasing its production capacity and the process should be complete by the end of 2026. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the company has been unable to meet the demand of arms makers.

According to Czech Defence and Security Industry Association head Jiří Hynek, there are only three major producers of nitrocellulose in Europe, in France, Serbia and Czechia respectively, with Synthesia being the largest in terms of nitrocellulose production for the arms industry.

MP Helena Langšádlová has resigned from the post of Science, Research and Innovation Minister, her party TOP 09 announced in a press release on Thursday. At a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, Ms. Langšádlová said she had underestimated the communication side of the role but will remain an MP for TOP 09. She will continue to work on the fight against disinformation and will join the parliamentary committee for hybrid threats.

The outgoing science minister told Czech daily Deník N in an interview earlier on Thursday that she had decided to resign because she had lost the support of her party, which didn't like the fact that she wasn't able to sell her work to the public.

The party leadership wants to discuss who will replace her as science minister with Prime Minister Petr Fiala and President Petr Pavel.