News

This year's summer was the second-hottest in the Czech Republic since records began in 1961, according to data from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.  Temperatures repeatedly climbed above 40 degrees Celsius and the country also recorded a new absolute temperature record at the end of June, when the station in Doksany in the Litoměřice region registered 41.9 degrees Celsius on June 28. The average temperature from June through August reached 19.4 degrees Celsius, surpassed only by the year 2019, when the average was 19.5 degrees.

The coalition Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD) opposes plans to reduce unemployment benefits approved by the government on Monday. SPD leader Tomio Okamura said his party had not been consulted about the matter in advance and he wants to raise the issue at a meeting of the coalition council.

The government's plan has also drawn criticism from experts. They warn that cutting benefits in the first months of unemployment, as well as lowering the maximum benefit, could prevent jobless people from choosing the best available offer and settle for lower-paid jobs, meaning the state would collect less in taxes and social insurance contributions.

Under the amendment submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, unemployment benefits would fall from the current 80 percent of a person's previous net wage to 65 percent during the first two months. They would remain at 50 percent in the middle of the benefit period, while at the end they would rise from 40 to 45 percent.

The minister of foreign affairs, Petr Macinka, will summon Russia’s ambassador to the Czech Republic, Anna Ponomareva, in connection with a drone attack on the airport in the eastern German city of Leipzig, media outlets reported.

The decision came after a news conference on Tuesday at which senior German officials blamed Russia after a drone carrying an explosive device was discovered near Ukrainian cargo planes at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany last month.

A spokesperson for Mr. Macinka said the Russian diplomat would be summoned in the coming days.

The Czech Republic’s draft state budget for 2027 does not include any funding for Radio Prague International, the news outlet Seznam Zprávy reported on Tuesday. In a chapter outlining the specific budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which funds the station, no money is allocated for international radio broadcasting.

The minister of foreign affairs, Petr Macinka, cut Radio Prague International’s budget by one-quarter this year and had said it would not receive any state backing in 2027.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later told Seznam Zprávy that it had based its calculations on an expected change in the law – and if this legislation was not enacted by the end of 2026 it would cover expenditures for international broadcasting. The legal change evidently refers to an overhaul of the financing of public broadcasters.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Czech Radio, of which RPI is part, said that the station was confident it would be able to reverse the plan to cut funding, and that talks on the matter were at an early stage.