• 01/24/2023

    The 29 Leopard tanks which Germany has assigned to Czechia and Slovakia as compensation for those they sent to Ukraine will be refurbished and delivered in the spring, Armin Papperger, head of German arms company Rheinmetall, told the news magazine Stern. Germany has promised Slovakia 15 and Czechia 14 Leopard tanks as part of a so-called circular exchange. These are supposed to be decommissioned and refurbished units from Rheinmetall's stocks. Meanwhile, Germany is facing increasing pressure to supply more Leopards to Ukraine or at least to allow their re-export from third countries.

  • 01/24/2023

    The Prague Municipal Court has rejected a complaint against the Defense Ministry over its decision to block a number of websites spreading disinformation in connection with the Russian war in Ukraine. The ruling was announced by the non-profit organizations Institute H21 and Open Society, which filed the complaint. On February 25, the day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Czech government called for measures to be taken to prevent the dissemination of false and misleading information in cyberspace regarding the Russian aggression. The National Cyber Operations Centre at the Ministry of Defence promptly ordered a number of sites to be temporarily blocked.

  • 01/24/2023

    Presidential candidate Petr Pavel has had to cancel Tuesday's planned meeting with voters in Příbram due to a bad viral infection, the ctk news agency reported. His rival Andrej Babiš will continue his election campaign in the regions as planned. General Pavel is hoping to be back in action on Wednesday for the final days of campaigning ahead of a runoff this weekend. Voters will select a successor to Miloš Zeman whose second term in office ends on March 8.

  • 01/24/2023

    Czech Ambassador to NATO Jakub Landovský said that the statement made by presidential candidate Andrej Babiš, which cast doubt on Czechia’s solidarity with its allies, had been explained and had not caused irreparable damage. However, he warned that if this were to happen more often, the Czech Republic would become an untrustworthy country for its allies. He said several colleagues from Poland and the Baltic states had asked him to explain the statement and he had assured them that Czechia stands firmly behind its allies not only in word but also in deed, adding that the statement had been retracted soon afterwards.

  • 01/24/2023

    Czech interior minister Vít Rakušan has said that he does not want to decrease controls on the Czech-Slovak border too suddenly, the Czech News Agency reported on Tuesday. At Wednesday's cabinet meeting he wants to propose that checks only be carried out by police officers for the next ten days, with soldiers and customs officials being withdrawn from duty. Without a further ruling by the government, border checks would be due to end on Wednesday night.

    Controls on the Czech-Slovak border have been in place since September 26 due to increasing numbers of migrants using Czechia as a transit country to get to Western Europe. Although originally only intended to last ten days, the checks have been repeatedly extended. Since December 21, the intensity of the controls has been reduced and checks are now only done at random.

    The largest number of migrants last year was recorded in September, at over 9,000. After the introduction of checks, the number dropped to around 6,000 in October, 3,000 in November and less than 600 in December.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 01/24/2023

    Polish politicians from the ruling Law and Justice party have used the backlash faced by presidential candidate Andrej Babiš over statements he made regarding Czechia's committment to NATO to levy criticisms aimed at Věra Jourová, the Czech vice-president of the European Commission, who has repeatedly reproached the Polish cabinet over breaching the rule of law.

    In a televised election debate on Sunday, Mr Babiš stated that he would not send Czech soldiers to help Poland or the Baltic states in the event of a military attack, causing an international and domestic uproar.

    Beata Mazurek, a Polish MEP from the ruling Law and Justice party, drew attention to Mr Babiš's past as a communist secret police agent and said that the comments made by Babiš in Sunday's debate were made by the same person who proposed Věra Jourová as commissioner and who caused problems for Poland over its Turow mine.

    Another Law and Justice MP, Bartosz Kownacki, linked Mr Babiš and Ms Jourová, both ANO party members, to the Kremlin, saying in a post on Twitter that Ms Jourová had been lashing out at Poland over its judicial reform for years and suggesting that both Mr Babiš and Ms Jourová were receiving payment from Moscow.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 01/23/2023

    The new British ambassador to the Czech Republic, Matthew Field, began his post in Prague on Monday. He was previously ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    The previous ambassador, Nick Archer, finished his tenure at the end of 2022.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 01/23/2023

    Czech prime minister Petr Fiala reacted to presidential candidate Andrej Babiš's statement about NATO on Twitter, saying that the role of the president should be to represent the country and build relationships, not damage its reputation and create uncertainty about its reliability amongst its allies. He said furthermore that it was in the interests of the country that the Czech Republic is taken seriously by its partners and allies and he hopes that voters will take this into account when they go to the polls this weekend.

    Mr Babiš's opponent in the presidential race, Petr Pavel, wrote on Twitter that if he is elected president, his second trip as head of state will be to Poland, to assure the country that Czechia will honour its agreements towards them.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 01/23/2023

    Three-time Olympic champion Ester Ledecká will not take part in the Alpine Skiing World Championships starting in France in two weeks due to a collarbone injury she sustained in the summer. She is still planning to attend the snowboarding world championships in Bakuriani, Georgia in the second half of February.

    Ms Ledecká fractured her collarbone while training in the summer and had to undergo a second operation in November. After a check-up on Thursday, doctors said that although the injury is healing well after the surgery, competitive skiing would be too risky and recommended that she not participate.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 01/23/2023

    Tuesday should remain cold and overcast with daytime temperatures hovering around 1 to 3 degrees Celsius. However, no more snow or rain is expected.

    Author: Anna Fodor

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