News

Czech businessman Daniel Křetínský has been unusually active over the past year and is playing an increasingly important role in European business, the British journal The Economist wrote last week. It noted that exactly a year ago, Křetínský strengthened his position in the German group Metro and acquired Britain’s Royal Mail.

Listing his recent activity, the article included that Křetínský's EP  is set to become the main shareholder in France’s TotalEnergies, and that the group has acquired a 28.5% stake in French electronics retailer Fnac Darty. Křetínský also owns a 50% stake in Czech Media Invest, which controls several French media outlets as well as Czech News Center (CNC), one of the Czech Republic’s largest media groups.

In an interview with The Economist, Křetínský said Europe’s efforts to decarbonise had, in his view, failed and damaged European industry. He warned against high taxes and excessive bureaucracy, which he said were discouraging capital and talent.

The Škoda Elroq has been named Czechia’s Car of the Year 2026, with the Mercedes-Benz CLA finishing second and the BMW iX3 in third, the Association of Automobile Importers announced today. The winner was selected by 19 leading Czech motoring journalists.

Škoda last won the award in 2018 with the Karoq, on which the Elroq is based. Launched in 2025, the Elroq quickly became the best-selling electric car in the Czech Republic and Europe’s second-best-selling EV. It is Škoda’s second electric model after the Enyaq.

Czech MEP Nikola Bartůšek has been expelled from the right-wing political group Patriots for Europe (PfE) in the European Parliament for allegedly damaging the group’s reputation. Ondřej Knotek, head of the Czech delegation in PfE and an ANO MEP, confirmed this to the Czech News Agency on Tuesday but declined to provide further details. Bartůšek, elected to the European Parliament for the Czech populist party Přísaha (Oath) in 2024, confirmed the news, but refused to comment on why she will now sit as a non-attached MEP.

The Patriots for Europe, led by Jordan Bardella of France’s far-right National Rally, is the European Parliament’s third-largest political group with 84 members, including seven MEPs from the Czech ANO Party.

Around 1,800 of the nearly 4,500 employees of Czech Television and Czech Radio have signed a statement expressing concern over attempts to control public service media. They view the government’s plan to abolish television and radio license fees – and instead fund public media from the state budget – as a threat to the independence of these institutions.

The current government, formed by ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), and the Motorists’ Party, has included the abolition of public media fees in its policy program. It argues that funding public media from the state budget, starting in 2027, would save money for citizens. However, the opposition and parts of the professional community see this move as endangering media independence.

On Monday, the OS Media trade union sent an open letter to Culture Minister Oto Klempíř (Motorists’ Party), stating that it is ready to participate in negotiations on changes to public media financing.