• 02/17/2024

    Austria is extending border checks with Czechia until at least mid-April, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF reported on Saturday, citing government sources. Austria introduced checks on its border with the Czech Republic last October and, following several extensions, they were to remain in place until 16 February.  Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in this connection that border controls are one of many measures in the fight against international smuggling rings, which often finance terrorist activities and that in view of the international security situation, extending controls is part of the Austrian government’s decisive action against extremists.

    Austria is also applying similar measures at its borders with Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. With Italy, Germany and Switzerland, Austrian police carry out random checks in the border areas.

  • 02/17/2024

    Sunday should be partly cloudy and mostly dry around the country with temperatures between 5 and 9 degrees Celsius.

  • 02/17/2024

    The amount of unused and neglected real estate, so-called brownfields, around Czechia should decrease significantly in the coming years, Czech Television reported. The State Investment Support Fund has allocated CZK 2.3 billion for their transformation. Nearly fifty projects across the country have received grants. There are currently more than 4,300 brownfields in Czechia, covering an area of 13,200 hectares.

  • 02/17/2024

    Friday, February 16, broke temperature records at 23 monitoring stations around the country, with highs of 17.4 degrees Celsius, according to data from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. The data comes from 165 locations which have been monitoring temperatures for at least thirty years. The record high temperatures were mainly from the Šumava region in southern Bohemia. Overall, the beginning of February in Czechia was the warmest in more than a century with an average temperature of 6.7 degrees Celsius. The pollen season has also started earlier this year due to the unseasonably warm weather.

  • 02/17/2024

    Czech Railways has reported a near-collision on the route close to Havlíčkův Brod on Friday afternoon, when two trains almost crashed, stopping just 37 metres apart. According to Czech Railways,  one of the train drivers missed a red light and ran into the path of a passenger train travelling from Havlíčkův Brod to Žďár nad Sázavou. Both trains managed to stop at the last minute. No one was reported injured. The incident is being investigated by the Railway Inspectorate.

  • 02/17/2024

    The Czech government has rejected Russia's objection to freezing almost all Russian assets in Czechia, Czech Television reported citing foreign ministry sources. The freeze, which the Czech government approved in November of last year, concerns some 70 properties owned by a Russian state company in Prague, Central Bohemia and Karlovy Vary. The Kremlin criticized the move as “unlawful” and threatened to retaliate. The freeze came as part of sanctions made in response to Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine. Buildings used by the Russian embassy for diplomatic purposes are excluded from the sanctions, since they are protected by diplomatic immunity.

  • 02/17/2024

    Around 300 protesters gathered in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague on Friday evening after news broke that the jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny had died in prison. People brought flowers, lit candles and carried placards reading “Putin is to blame”. On a nearby tree, his supporters taped a photo of Navalny and an inscription in Cyrillic that read "We will not forget and we will not forgive", a phrase the opposition leader often used in the past in connection with the practices of the Putin regime.

    Commemorative gatherings at which people paid tribute to Navalny and blamed Putin for his death have been taking place around Europe.

  • 02/16/2024

    Czechia has been an active participant in an international operation against the activities of the Russian intelligence services, the country’s prime minister, Petr Fiala, said on social media on Friday.

    The director of America’s FBI revealed on Thursday that the US and partners around the world had tackled Russian government hackers within the operation, which was named Dying Embers.

    Mr. Fiala said that Czechia had to defend its cyberspace and respond to global threats in cooperation with allies and partners. Mutual trust and the ability to cooperate flexibly are key to ensuring security, he said.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 02/16/2024

    The government last month rejected an objection to the inclusion of a Russian asset management company on Czechia’s national sanctions list, Czech Television reported, citing a spokesperson for the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    The firm operates and manages a number of properties in Czechia that are owned by the Russian Federation, mostly in Prague or Karlovy Vary.

    The Czech government included the company on its sanctions list in mid-November and decided to freeze its assets, a move Moscow described as unlawful.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 02/16/2024

    The current mild weather in Czechia is having an impact on visitor numbers at the country’s mountain resorts, the Czech News Agency reported.

    Unusually high temperatures for February is causing snow to melt quickly and some skiers were driven off the slopes by rain on Friday.

    In response some resorts have suspended or reduced their services, or are planning to do some from next week, despite Czech children’s spring school holidays.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

Pages