News

A former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Helena Illnerová, says a European Commission proposal to end daylight saving time would not have a significant impact on people’s health. The biochemist and physiologist said changing the clocks twice a year was not in itself problematic.

However, it was better when – until the year 1995 – summertime lasted six months in the Czech Republic, not seven months as at present, Mrs. Illnerová said.

For its part the Czech branch of environmental organisation Friends of the Earth said daylight saving time was a marginal issue and the European Commission should focus on more important matters.

It should be rainy in the Czech Republic on Sunday, with temperatures of up to 22 degrees Celsius. Similar weather is expected over the coming week.

The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, and his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, say they want to hold a Visegrad Four meeting prior to an informal European Union summit in Salzburg in mid-September. The two politicians made the comment after bilateral talks in Budapest on Friday evening that focused on economic cooperation, migration and the EU budget.

Mr. Babiš said that the last time Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak leaders had held a V4 meeting was back in June. He also told reporters that Mr. Orban had accepted an invitation to Prague and would visit the city at the end of October.

The broad Social Democratic Party leadership is meeting to debate the problem regarding the party’s unsuccessful nominee for foreign minister. Party leaders have proposed shelving the issue until October 15th, ie. until after the Senate and local elections.

Miroslav Poche, whom the party nominated for the post, was rejected both by President Miloš Zeman and later by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. President Zeman refused to appoint him to office and the post was temporarily filled by party leader Jan Hamáček, who is also serving as minister of the interior.