News

The Pirate Party are keen to hold a debate on the Istanbul Convention in the Czech lower house but the other four parties in the coalition government are against, Czech Television reported on Sunday. The other government partners are keen to keep the divisive issue on the back burner until at least after Senate elections in the autumn, Czech TV said.

Czechia signed up to the convention, which is designed to protect women from violence, eight years ago but has yet to ratify the document. The Czech upper house voted against ratification earlier this year.

The speaker of Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová of government party TOP 09, recently said it would be irresponsible to hold a vote on ratifying the Istanbul Convention at present, given the unclear level of support for it among MPs.

The use of solar energy in Czechia has skyrocketed in the last five years, the Czech News Agency said on Sunday. While just over 3,400 new solar power systems were installed in 2019, last year that figure had reached nearly 83,000. Investments in this type of technology are also growing considerably, amounting to almost CZK 45 billion last year; five years ago the figure was less than CZK 1 billion.

The recent development in this area differs significantly from a solar boom the country experienced 15 years ago, the Czech News Agency said.

Czech leaders have welcomed a decision by the US House of Representatives to approve USD 61 billion in military aid for Ukraine. Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Saturday evening that he greatly appreciated the move and pointed out that he had discussed the matter just days ago in Washington with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, said the American legislators’ decision had come at the most opportune time. He said on social media that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, freedom and democracy could only be stopped by joint action, adding that Europe must also do more.

One-fifth of first year students at Czech secondary schools lack even a minimum level of scientific literacy and have major problems solving the simplest science problems, according to a report from the national schools inspecting body cited by the Czech News Agency on Saturday. What’s more, 29 percent of the students surveyed possess no higher than a minimum level of scientific literacy, the authors of the study, which was conducted in 2022/2023, said.

The tests confirmed that students’ results were influenced by their family background and social status, which inspectors have been pointing out for some time.