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Photographer Bohumil Dobrovolský, who was best known for his photographs of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, has died at the age of 89. News of his passing was announced on Facebook by Czech Press Photo. As a thirty-three-year-old amateur photographer Dobrovolský went into the streets of Prague and recorded the tragic atmosphere of the first day of the invasion on 21 August 1968 on seven films. "I am not a hero, it was only indignation, defiance and my home environment that made me free of fear, he said in an interview for Czech Radio years later.

Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák has sent an appeal to the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, urging for it to start negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on accession to the EU in June, i.e. before  Hungary is set to take over the rotating EU Presidency in July of this year. Minister Dvořák expressed concern that, under the leadership of Viktor Orban, Hungary could try to freeze the process during his country’s time at the helm. According to Czech Radio, eleven EU states have backed the appeal. They are Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia, Portugal and Germany.

Czechia will break its dependence on Russian crude oil by the middle of next year at the latest, Prime Minister Petr Fiala told reports following a meeting with the management of the state owned company Mero which manages the country’s central reserves. He said Czechia  would request the cancellation of the exemption for Russian oil imports as soon as the Italian TAL pipeline expansion project is completed. Work on it is now in full swing and planned technological modifications will be completed by the end of this year.

Czechia would thus break its 60-year-long dependence on Russian crude oil, delivered via the Druzhba pipeline.  Last year, 7.4 million tons of crude oil flowed into Czech refineries, of which about 58 percent was oil from Russia. The rest came from Germany's IKL pipeline, which is connected to the Italian TAL pipeline.

A number of Czech cities want to double fines for riding public transport without a ticket, Czech Television reported on Wednesday.

The current maximum fine is CZK 1,500 but the national association of transport authorities says this is insufficient as many people think having to pay that amount is an acceptable risk, adding that fines have been at the same level for a decade.

The cities where the increase could happen are Prague, Ostrava, Brno, Olomouc, Liberec and České Budějovice.