News

The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute has expanded its storm warning for Saturday evening to the whole of Bohemia and Vysočina in addition to south Moravia. The heaviest storms are expected to hit southern Bohemia, with wind speeds of up to 90 km/h.

A high-temperature warning is also in force for South Moravia, Prague, most of central Bohemia and parts of surrounding regions to the north and east, where temperatures are predicted to rise above 31 degrees Celsius on Saturday. The Hydrometeorological Institute advises people to drink lots of fluids, limit outdoor afternoon activities, and not to leave children and pets in direct sunlight, especially in parked cars.

Czech Marie Bouzková lost her doubles match with Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-3, 6-4 against the French duo of Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia at Wimbledon on Friday. Whether her compatriots Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková will advance to the next round is uncertain as their matches, also scheduled for Friday, were both suspended partway through due to rain.

Krejčíková and her German partner Laura Siegemund were a game away from victory when the weather put a stop to play, leading 7-6(1), 5-4 against the British pair Eden Silva and Samantha Murray Sharan. Meanwhile, Krejčíková's former doubles partner Kateřina Siniaková's match with the American Taylor Townsend had barely got off the ground before it was suspended due to the bad weather. Still only in the first set, Siniaková and Townsend were however leading over the Australian Olivia Gadecki and the French Elixane Lechemia 2-1.

Viktor Orban does not represent Czech or EU interests in Moscow nor does he have any mandate to negotiate on behalf of either, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wrote on social media site X following the Hungarian prime minister's bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. Mr Fiala reiterated that the Czech position on the war in Ukraine is clear in that Putin is the aggressor and that Czechia stands with Ukraine.

Hungary took over the rotating six-month presidency of the EU Council on Monday and soon afterwards Orban met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday. According to Reuters, Mr Orban described his trip to Moscow as a continuation of the "peace mission" which he started with his visit to the Ukrainian capital. Orban arrived in Moscow on Friday morning to hold talks with Putin and following the meeting, the Russian News Agency TASS reported that Putin had said the two had discussed possibilities for settling the war in Ukraine. The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, emphasised that Orban's trip is a bilateral visit without an EU mandate.

Despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Hungary maintains good relations with the country, refusing to provide military aid to Kyiv and criticising the EU's sanctions on Russia. Orban is one of the few Western leaders to have met with Putin since the beginning of the invasion. Before the meeting, Orban said that Hungary is the last European country that can still have a dialogue with both Russia and Ukraine.

Around 30,000 people from Czechia and abroad took part in the 25th annual pilgrimage festival in the Moravian town of Velehrad in the Zlín Region on Friday, marking the legacy of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Greek missionaries who brought Christianity to the Czech lands. The Days of the People of Goodwill, as the celebration is called, culminated on Friday with an open-air pilgrimage mass on the square in front of the Velehrad Basilica, celebrated by Olomouc Archbishop Josef Nuzík.

The two-day event officially began on Thursday evening with a prayer in the Velehrad Basilica and a charity benefit concert, which raised CZK 1.025 million and drew around 20,000 attendees. Every 5 July in Czechia is a public holiday commemorating the two saints.