News

Two special repatriation planes brought around 450 clients of Czech tourism agencies back from the Greek island of Rhodes on Sunday night, while another plane was on its way on Monday afternoon. The news was reported by Czech Television, who quoted Martin Smolek, director general for legal and consular affairs at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Government planes are not being sent to pick up tourists on the island, which has been hit by wildfires. In addition the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not for now issuing a general warning not to travel to Rhodes as local fire services report the situation is improving, Mr. Smolek said.

Meanwhile the ministry has also issued a warning in connection with wildfires on another Greek island, Corfu. It has also been hit by extensive fires.

Three planes transporting Czech tourists home from the Greek island of Rhodes landed at Prague's Václav Havel Airport overnight or in the early hours of Monday morning. One was a regularly scheduled flight while the other two were repatriation flights sent to the island by travel agencies. Czech Television reported that the majority of passengers complained about the lack of communication from the travel agencies.

The organisation Safety Line, which helps children and young people deal with difficult life situations or everyday worries and problems, is launching a new campaign called Manage 20 which encourages callers to look for a different way of relieving emotional or mental pain other than self-harm. The name comes from the idea that when it comes to this issue, the key is to find a way through the crucial initial 20 minutes after the desire to harm oneself first appears, after which the desire diminishes for most people. According to news site Deník N, up to 15 per cent of Czech children have experience with self-harm.

A bill which expands the options for citizens wanting to participate in the defence of the Czech state came into effect on Sunday. Until now, there were three ways Czechs could contribute to the defence of their country - by becoming professional soldiers, joining the active reserves, or voluntarily participating in military exercises. The new amendment to the current military legislation allows people to apply for a fourth option, whereby they only have to undergo a medical examination at the time of applying, but if the security situation were to worsen, they would go through training.

The law also touches on other areas, such as the remuneration of soldiers in the active reserves, and will allow the defence ministry to use data from public administration systems for defence planning even outside of a state of national emergency or war.

The bill was created as a response to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.