• 12/13/2023

    There are 1,000 people with covid-19 now in hospitals, with that number expected to increase again by Christmas and in the second half of January, Deputy Health Minister Josef Pavlovic said at a press conference on Wednesday. The number of cases and hospitalizations is currently at its highest since last October. However, the minister said that patients are primarily being hospitalised for other reasons, not because of covid, and added that the Ministry of Health is not planning to take any general measures against the spread of the virus.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 12/13/2023

    Foreigners legally residing in the Czech Republic now constitute ten percent of the total population, according to the latest figures published by the Czech Statistical Office on Wednesday. The number of foreigners with legal residence at the end of last year rose by 455,305 year-on-year to 1.12 million people. Ukrainians were the nationality that saw the biggest increase in number, and they also make up over half of the total number of foreigners in Czechia, with over 630,000 registered in the country at the end of 2022. Slovak and Vietnamese citizens respectively make up the next largest groups.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 12/13/2023

    The biggest Czech opposition party, ANO, would have won general elections in November with 34 percent of the vote suggests a new poll by the Ipsos agency for Seznam Zprávy published on Wednesday. Government leaders the Civic Democrats would have come second on 13 percent, with the Pirate Party in third on 10.5 percent and Freedom and Direct Democracy fourth on 9 percent, the survey indicates.

    Another poll, by the Kantar CZ agency, published at the weekend gave ANO 34.5 percent.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/13/2023

    Czechia voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution on Tuesday calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. It was one of 10 states – including the US – which did not support the resolution, which was passed by 153 votes.

    The Czechs had sought, and failed, to have the text of the resolution include a passage condemning the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in October.

    The Czech ambassador to the UN, Jakub Kulhánek, said the country had voted against with a heavy heart.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/12/2023

    The leader of the Social Democrats’ candidates list for next year’s European Parliament elections, Lubomír Zaorálek, has contacts all over Europe, the party’s leader, Michal Šmarda, said at a news conference in Prague on Tuesday.

    Mr. Zaorálek is a former foreign minister and arts minister and Mr. Šmarda said he would not be lost at European level, unlike the candidates of other parties.

    The party’s chairman said the Euro elections were the start of the Social Democrats’ battle to make a return in Czech politics. The grouping failed to make it back into the lower house in the last general elections.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/12/2023

    Russia and China are the most active states when it comes to spreading disinformation in Czechia, says the head of the country’s counterintelligence service, BIS. Speaking at a conference focused on hybrid threats in Prague on Tuesday, Michal Koudelka said that Czechia had seen less impact of anti-Israel propaganda from Hamas or Iran than some other states.

    The BIS chief said that Czechia had greatly boosted its efforts to combat disinformation in recent times.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/12/2023

    Over 4,000 people have applied to join the Czech Army since the launch of a virtual recruitment centre in September, the minister of defence, Jana Černochová, said on Tuesday. The minister said she had been surprised by the number of applications received to date.

    The Ministry of Defence will also seek to recruit soldiers online in 2024.

    In September the army had almost 28,000 professional soldiers and 4,300 members of the Active Reserve. By 2030 it hopes to have 30,000 soldiers and 10,000 reserves.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/12/2023

    The Czech government’s commissioner for human rights, Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, presented her own awards in Prague on Monday evening. The official bestowed the newly created prize, for defending and promoting human rights, to 18 individuals and organisations in six categories.

    Among those honoured were Zdeněk Ryšavý of the organisation Romea, Jitka Poláková, director of proFem, evangelical pastor Mikuláš Vymětal, Viktor Heumann of the association Trans*parent, and Bohdan Rajčinec, who represents the Ukrainian minority.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/12/2023

    Singer and composer Michael Kocáb will celebrate his 70th birthday with an appearance at Prague’s Metronome music festival next June, the organisers have announced.

    Kocáb became famous as the frontman of the band Pražský výběr. He was also involved in politics and oversaw the departure of Russian troops from Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 12/12/2023

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Wednesday, with an average high temperature of 7 degrees Celsius. Lower temperatures are expected on the following days.

    Author: Ian Willoughby

Pages