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Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala is attending an EU-Western Balkan countries summit in Tirana, Albania, this Tuesday. Topics on the agenda range from tackling together the consequences Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, intensifying political and policy engagement, reinforcing security and building resilience against foreign interference, as well as addressing the challenges posed by migration, the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

Ahead of his flight to Tirana on Tuesday, Mr Fiala spoke about a joint EU and Western Balkan platform for purchasing gas, compressed gas and hydrogen that, he said, should lead to lower prices and greater ease of access to energy. The Czech prime minister also stated that, due to the increased use of the Western Balkan migrant route, the protection of the EU’s Schengen Area border should be moved further to the south. Czechia, he said, also considers it important to speed up the alignment of visa policies between the EU and Western Balkan states.

The Tirana meeting is the first-ever summit between EU and Western Balkan leaders to take place in the Western Balkan region.

Czechia’s head of diplomacy, Jan Lipavský, is taking part in an informal meeting of Visegrad Group foreign ministers in Bratislava this Tuesday. Among the topics to be discussed are Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and the Visegrad Group’s role in relation to the European Union, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday.

The session follows up on a meeting of Visegrad Group prime ministers that took place two weeks ago at which the heads of government agreed on a joint approach in regards to helping Ukraine.

The Visegrad Group is composed of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, with Slovakia currently holding the year-long presidency.

Czech National Football Team striker Patrik Schick may need a further operation for his groin injury, the website of German football magazine Kicker reports. The Bayer Leverkusen player was unable to join his team’s Friday training session and it is unclear whether he will be fit to start in Leverkusen’s first match of the spring half of the Bundesliga season in January.

The 26-year-old, who was the second best Bundesliga goal scorer last year, has had a troubled season so far, last being able to play for Leverkusen on November 1st, Kicker writes. He is set to be examined by doctors this week. Schick has scored 18 goals in 35 appearances for the national team. His strike against Scotland at the UEFA EURO 2020 was nominated for the FIFA Puskas Award.

Despite close to a quarter of Czech households being eligible to apply for the state housing benefit (příspěvek na bydlení), only 4 percent actually do, according to the results of a survey conducted by PAQ Research as part of a joint project with Czech Radio. The survey, conducted at the turn of October and November of this year, indicated that 24 percent of households in Czechia spend more than around a third of their net income on rent and associated costs.

According to sociologist Daniel Prokop, around 45 percent of those who would be eligible think that they are not. While among pensioners the reason is often a fear of too much bureaucracy, people in working age are often ashamed to ask for a benefit, Czech Radio writes.