• Coalition leaders: ANO no-confidence vote call linked to presidential election
    01/12/2023

    Czech coalition leaders say an ANO call for a vote of no-confidence in the government is linked to the campaign of the party leader, Andrej Babiš, for president. Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Bartoš of the Pirate Party said the proposed vote was intended to seize media space between the first and second rounds of the presidential election on the assumption that Mr. Babiš will reach the run-off.

    Deputy Prime Minister Marian Jurečka of the Christian Democrats said senior ANO MP Alena Schillerová had said only a month ago that the party would not call a no-confidence vote and he did not see what had changed in the interim.

    The coalition government has a solid majority in the lower house, meaning such a vote would be highly unlikely to pass.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    01/12/2023

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Friday, with an average high temperature of 8 degrees Celsius. Similar though slightly cooler weather is expected on the following days.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech presidential elections get underway on American continent
    01/12/2023

    Voting on the American continent in the first round of Czech presidential elections gets underway on Thursday. The ballot boxes will be open between 2 and 9 pm local time at Czech embassies and consulates general in North and South America. This is in order to ensure that votes cast in those territories can be counted and published immediately after the close of voting in Czechia at 2 pm on Saturday.

    The polls will open in Czechia itself at 2 pm on Friday. A second round of the elections will be held a fortnight later if, as expected, no candidate receives more than 50 percent in the first round.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Foreign minister: Ukraine, sanctions, economic diplomacy among 2023 priorities
    01/11/2023

    The priorities of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs this year will be Ukraine, sanctions policy, economic diplomacy and the digitalisation of the government department, Minister Jan Lipavský told journalists on Wednesday.

    Mr. Lipavský said he was planning trips to Africa, South America and Asia in 2023, including a visit to India.

    He said Czechia will be actively involved in the creation of a special tribunal to investigate war crimes linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is one of the core group of countries working on this project.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Government weighing VAT change, says Fiala
    01/11/2023

    The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, says his government is considering changing the country’s VAT system. In an interview with the Czech News Agency, he said doing away with two VAT rates would deliver greater clarity and stability. He said any such change would come about within a revision of the cabinet’s policy programme, though that would not involve any radical steps.

    Novinky.cz reported that instead of the current 10 and 15 percent VAT rates there should be one rate – of 13 or 14 percent – from next year.

    The prime minister said the government would publish a plan to reform the Czech pension system this year and would focus on reducing the budget deficit in 2024.

    Mr. Fiala also said there was agreement among the five-party coalition on defence spending increasing to 2 percent of GDP from next year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Loprais drops out of Dakar Rally after spectator dies in collision with truck
    01/11/2023

    The Czech truck driver Aleš Loprais has withdrawn from the Dakar Rally, a day after an accident in which a spectator was killed in a collision with his vehicle. The move was announced on the website of the race, which is now in its 45th edition.

    At the time of Tuesday’s accident Aleš Loprais was leading the truck category after nine stages. He is the nephew of the famous truck rally driver Karel Loprais.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    01/11/2023

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Thursday, with an average high temperature of 7 degrees Celsius. Similar weather is expected on the following days.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Kvitová into quarter-finals in Adelaide
    01/11/2023

    Czechia’s Petra Kvitová has reached the quarter-finals of tennis’s Adelaide International. The two-time Wimbledon winner saved three set points before overcoming China’s Zheng Qinwen in the first set; her opponent then retired from Wednesday’s match with an injury.

    Kvitová, who is 32, will be the highest seeded Czech woman at the next week’s Australian Open, at 15th.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Inflation rate in 2022 second highest in modern Czech history
    01/11/2023

    The inflation rate slowed down to 15.8 percent year-on-year in December, down from 16.2 in November, the Czech Statistics Office reported on Wednesday.

    The average inflation rate for the whole of last year was 15.1 percent, which is the second highest rate in the modern history of the Czech Republic. It was higher only in 1993, when it reached 20.8 percent.

    Prices of goods rose by 16.8 percent in 2022, while prices of services increased by 12.3 percent.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

  • Czechs with Covid start voting in presidential elections
    01/11/2023

    Czechs who are in isolation with Covid started voting in the first round of presidential elections on Wednesday, two days before polling stations open for the general public.

    People with Covid can vote in special drive-in polling stations, which will be open from 8am to 5pm. There are several such drive-ins in each region, usually one per district, and five in Prague.

    People who cannot vote from their cars can order a portable ballot box to their homes.
    Author: Ruth Fraňková

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