News

Karel Pezl, who was the last chief of staff of the Czechoslovak Army and the first one of the Czech Army, has died at the age of 95, an army spokesperson said. General Pezl was a holder of the highest Czech state honour, the Order of the White Lion.

The current head of the Czech Army, Karel Řehka, said his predecessor had earned the institution great respect in the 1990s and had promoted the good name of the army at home and abroad.

The main part of an informal meeting of energy ministers from around Europe is taking place at Prague’s Congress Hall on Wednesday. Topics on the agenda include energy preparedness for the coming winter, possible changes to the electricity market and hydrogen.

On Tuesday the ministers discussed securing gas supplies. The Czech minister of industry and trade, Jozef Síkela, who convened the gathering, said he and his colleagues wished to introduce measures supporting the diversification of gas supplies, energy savings and accelerating the development of low-emission and renewable gases and hydrogen.

Czechia currently holds the revolving presidency of the European Union.

The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its global growth forecast and forecast for individual states for 2023.  It predicts a slowdown in Czech economic growth this year to 1.9 percent down from 3.5 percent last year. Its last prediction for this year’s growth, released in April, was 2.3 percent. Global growth is expected to slow to 2.7 percent in 2023.

Czechia has an export dependent economy and its performance is closely linked to that of its trade partners, particularly neighboring Germany.

The Constitutional Court has turned down a complaint by Cardinal Dominik Duka, over a pair of theatre plays staged in Brno which he claims were insulting and represented an attack on his rights guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. The production of the plays Our Violence, Your Violence and The Curse, directed by Oliver Frljic from Croatia, included a scene in which Jesus rapes a Muslim woman. In April the Supreme Court ruled that this was neither discrimination against Christians nor an infringement on freedom of religion. The Constitutional Court upheld the verdict, citing freedom of speech and expression.