• 05/23/2023

    The UK’s Prince Edward arrived in Czechia on Tuesday afternoon at the start of a visit that is due to last until Thursday. One of the main points of his stay will be meeting Czech students taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at Prague’s British Embassy.

    The youngest brother of King Charles will also visit the village of Vestec near Prague, pay his respects at a memorial to the heroes of Operation Anthropoid and meet the Czech president, Petr Pavel.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/23/2023

    From next year Czechia’s main public health insurer, VZP, will cover the costs of preventive examinations for the early detection of skin cancer. Until now, the insured had the option of paying for the examination themselves and then applying for financial compensation in return.

    Jan Bodnár, deputy director of VZP, said on Tuesday that the success of skin tumor treatment depended on the stage at which doctors discovered it.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/23/2023

    A defence cooperation agreement between Czechia and the US that is due to be signed in Washington on Tuesday is not a treaty on basing US soldiers on Czech soil or on the creation of an American military base in the country, the Czech minister of defence, Jana Černochová, told reporters. She was speaking just hours before she and her American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, were due to put their signatures to the document in the US capital.

    Ms. Černochová told Czech Television that the Czech side had got as much as possible out of the agreement.

    The Czech defence chief and the speaker of the Czech lower house, Markéta Pekarová Adamová, also laid a wreath at a monument in Washington to the founder of Czechoslovakia, T.G. Masaryk.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/23/2023

    Opposition leaders ANO would have won general elections in April with 31 percent of the vote, suggests a poll conducted by the Median agency last month. Second would have been government leaders the Civic Democrats, on 15 percent. Another coalition party, the Pirates, enjoy the third highest level of support with 10.5 percent, the survey indicates.

    Freedom and Direct Democracy placed fourth in the poll, on 8.5 percent, while the second biggest party in the government, the Mayors, were in fifth, on 7.5 percent.

    With 4.5 percent, TOP 09 would fail to make the cutoff for the lower house.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/23/2023

    A venue for a Boulder World Cup meeting is now being built at Prague’s Letná, ahead of the event the weekend after next. It is the first climbing competition of its kind to be held in the Czech capital in 14 years.

    It will be the first competitive event of the season for the great Czech climber Adam Ondra, who will be focusing his efforts on the Climbing World Championships in Bern in August.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/23/2023

    It should be mainly clear in Czechia on Wednesday, with an average high temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. The following days are also expected to be sunny.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/23/2023

    Czechia has formed a coalition with eight other European Union states opposed to the introduction of Euro 7, an EU proposal for new emissions regulations on motor vehicles, Hospodářské noviny reported on Tuesday.

    The Czech minister of transport, Martin Kupka, told the daily that his country had been the first to call Euro 7 a flawed standard.

    Czechia, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have jointly accused the European Commission of piling obligations on carmakers that go further than previously agreed emissions limits.

    The automotive industry is one of the key drivers of the Czech economy.

    Author: Ian Willoughby
  • 05/23/2023

    Czechs will go to the polls to vote in elections to the European Parliament on June 7-8 next year, according to the Interior Ministry. The date stems from an agreement reached by EU ambassadors according to which voters in EU countries will choose new MEPs between June 6-9, 2024. Traditionally elections in Czechia are held over two days –on a Friday and Saturday. However, the date must still be formally announced by President Petr Pavel.

  • 05/23/2023

    Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová is in Washington where she is due sign a defense cooperation agreement between Czechia and the United States. The agreement will create an overarching framework to codify already existing cooperation between the two countries' militaries. It will also set a legal framework for possible deployment of U.S. troops on Czech territory and their cooperation with the Czech armed forces. The U.S. has such agreements with 24 other NATO members, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria.

  • 05/22/2023

    Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura says the draft of the government’s austerity package reflects the political agreement reached by the leaders of the five ruling parties ten days ago. Mr. Stanuja made the statement in response to criticism of selected measures from inside the ruling coalition since its unveiling. Individual ministries have been given until next Monday to respond to the proposal. Stanjura said the government should approve the package by mid-June so that the lower house can start debating it before the summer holidays.

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