News

The first weekend of the summer holidays was a tragic one on Czech roads: 12 people were killed in traffic accidents. The number is higher by five than the same period last year. Accidents involved not only cars but also other motor vehicles: a 46-year-old died from injuries suffered when he was thrown over the handlebars of his electric bike after skidding on gravel in a turn.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has said he has no knowledge of of recruitment on Czech territory by the terrorist organisation IS, or Isil as it is also known, which holds large parts of Syria and Iraq. He made the statement on a Sunday TV debate programme in response to earlier words by the president which suggested that some on Czech territory had been recruited but had already departed for Syria. The country's BIS counter-intelligence organisation responded by saying it had no such information. The country's police president, Tomáš Tuhý, meanwhile, backed up the prime minister. He said the police knew of only foreign nationals who had left the Czech Republic for what he called "problematic destinations", adding that the authorities did not have information about why they were traveling to those areas.

Heightened security at key sites in the Czech Republic will remain largely in place following terrorist attacks last Friday which killed dozens of people in Tunisia, Kuwait and France. The decision was taken after a roughly two hour meeting of the country's National Security Council on Sunday evening. Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said the one exception where extra measures would be lifted would be at Czech branches of the American firm Air Products. The company's factory in Lyon, France was targeted on Friday (and one person murdered) but it is thought the attacker was acting alone and not within a broader network. In the Czech Republic, heightened security will remain in place "as long as required", the interior minister said.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has issued a warning urging Czech citizens traveling or vacationing in Tunisia to avoid areas outside of their hotels such as public markets, bars, restaurants and other sites where large numbers of people congregate. The ministry is also offering travelers the opportunity to register at its website. The warning comes after Friday's terrorist attack in Sousse where a lone gunman opened fire on vacationers with an assault rifle. Thirty-eight people, mostly tourists but also locals, died in the massacre. The Czech Foreign Ministry said that travelers needed to avoid border areas near Libya or Algeria, where the risk of kidnapping is high. According to the ministry, areas west of the line of Jendouba, Le Kef, Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid, Tozeur, and south of Tozeur, Kebili, Medenine and Zarzine are high-risk. There are fears not only of possible abductions but of additional attacks against Western targets.