News

More than a third of Czechia is experiencing the most severe level of soil drought at depths of up to one meter. Another 30 percent of the territory is affected by the second and third most severe levels. According to current forecast models, no significant improvement can be expected over the next ten days. In Moravia, especially toward the east, there may be no rain at all this week.

This follows from the latest data from the InterSucho project, run by the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The ongoing drought is causing problems in agriculture and forestry and is significantly increasing the risk of wildfires.

Detectives from the National Centre Against Organized Crime have charged three additional individuals in connection with last year’s donation of bitcoins to the Ministry of Justice. According to them, the suspects committed the criminal offenses of money laundering and abuse of official authority, said Radim Dragoun, the chief prosecutor, on the website of the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Olomouc. The prosecutor’s office did not provide further details about the suspects. News outlets Seznam Zprávy, Deník N, and iROZHLAS, citing their sources, reported that the individuals include former Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek (formerly of ODS), his former deputy Radomír Daňhel, and Brno-based lawyer Kárim Titz.

“The prosecuted act is directly related to the donation of bitcoins to the Ministry of Justice. The criminal offense of abuse of official authority consists in exercising the powers of a public official in a manner contrary to another legal regulation, with the intent of securing unlawful benefit for another,” Dragoun said.

Blažek (formerly of ODS) resigned over the bitcoin case, but maintained that he had done nothing illegal by accepting the donation.

Electronic sales registration (EET) is likely to return from January 2027. The government approved a proposal to reintroduce it today, Finance Minister Alena Schillerová (ANO) told journalists. The proposal, which will now be discussed by Parliament, is expected by the cabinet to bring CZK 14.4 billion annually into public budgets. It also includes tax changes, such as the restoration of some tax reliefs abolished by the previous government and adjustments to value added tax (VAT).

Under the EET system, both cash and cashless payments made during in-person contact with customers or at business premises will be recorded. Unlike the previous version of EET, businesses will not be required to issue paper receipts unless customers specifically request them.

The EET system was originally introduced by the ČSSD and ANO government in 2016, but from spring 2020 it was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic until the end of 2022 and effectively became voluntary. It was abolished in January 2023 by the government of Petr Fiala (ODS).

The opposition Pirate Party has appealed to the European Commission (EC) regarding the use of European funds for the 2028–2034 period to fight disinformation and strengthen the state’s resilience. The weekly Respekt reported today that Natálie Vachatová, an adviser to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), is proposing to remove support for media and digital literacy from the Ministry for Regional Development’s plan for negotiating the EU budget. She also proposed to remove support for boosting resilience against disinformation.

The Pirates said in a press release that they consider the proposal unacceptable. “In the past, Natálie Vachatová gave interviews to the disinformation pro-Russian website Sputnik News, which is blocked here because it is considered a tool of Russian propaganda. She is part of the group Friends of Russia and has even called for leaving the EU. It is entirely absurd that this person has influence, on behalf of the government, over how the Czech state will respond to external and internal threats,” said Pirate MP Ivan Bartoš. The Pirates are preparing to send Babiš their own plan to combat disinformation soon.