News

President Petr Pavel has indicated he will not run for a second term as head of state, the news site Novinky.cz reported. At a public debate in the Plzeň Region on Tuesday evening he said that one five-year term, if one carried it out to the full, would suffice.

Mr. Pavel said that one pre-election campaign had been more than enough and he did not have much appetite to undergo another. The 62-year-old said that he had come across a comment that, at international level, high politics had become a “geriatric park”, adding that room should be made for young blood.

Linda Nosková has been knocked out in the quarter-finals of tennis’s Australian Open. The Czech, who is 19, lost 3-6 4-6 to the Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska in one hour and 20 minutes on Wednesday.

Nosková had earlier caused a sensation by knocking world number one Iga Swiatek out in the third round, and it was the deepest run into a Grand Slam tournament of her career to date.

Czechia has welcomed the Turkish parliament’s approval of Sweden joining NATO. The foreign minister, Jan Lipavský, said on Wednesday that Czechia also counted on Hungary honouring its repeated pledge not to be the last to ratify Sweden’s accession to the military alliance.

Mr. Lipavský said that his country hoped that the ratification process can be finished soon as it would substantially strengthen NATO and contribute to overall European security.

The discussion in the lower house about allowing postal voting for Czechs living abroad continued on Wednesday at 9 am for the fifth day. The previous day's parliamentary session was once again adjourned after midnight following an almost 12-hour debate, plus three hours of breaks. The debate has so far taken up approximately 43.5 hours of parliamentary time, not including breaks.

The postal vote bill faces fierce resistance from the opposition ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy parties, who have said they will obstruct its passage through parliament for as long as possible. The ruling government coalition wants it approved in time for the 2025 general elections.