News

MEPs from Andrej Babiš's opposition ANO party did not attend a meeting with Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Friday because of his earlier statement that the new Patriots for Europe parliamentary group, of which ANO is a member, serves Russian interests, a spokesperson for the party said.

Mr Fiala commented on the matter on social media site X, saying that while MEPs from almost all elected parties across the political spectrum attended the meeting at the prime minister's official Prague residence, ANO MEPs did not. He wrote that Andrej Babiš had probably forbidden them from attending, which showed that the party was clearly not concerned with the interests of the Czech Republic at all.

The prime minister had said on Monday that the new European Parliament group Patriots for Europe, of which several far-right and populist parties from different European countries are now members, serves the interests of Russia whether wittingly or unwittingly, and thus threatens the freedom and security of Europe. Mr. Babiš hit back, saying that the prime minister is a pathological liar.

With only one exception, all countries at the NATO summit in Washington agreed that Ukraine should be given whatever support it needs to defend itself militarily, Czech President Petr Pavel said at a press conference at the close of the three-day meeting of member states. He later clarified on social media site X that all countries in the alliance pledged further support for Ukraine with the exception of Hungary. He said the main topic of discussion was how concretely to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

The Czech head of state also spoke about the need to stand up to Russia, saying that the Russian plan to assassinate the head of the German arms company Rheinmetall, uncovered by Germany and the United States, is further incontrovertible proof that Russia is waging a hybrid and information war against the West. He emphasised the need to let Russia know that none of these tactics would deter Western countries from doing what they consider to be right.

The three-day summit of NATO leaders took place from 9–11 July.

Czechia plans to supplement the aid for Czech fruit growers proposed by the European Commission with an additional CZK 100 million from the state budget, Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný announced on social media site X on Thursday.

Fruit harvests were massively damaged by severe frost this spring and lost revenues were estimated at over CZK 1.3 billion. According to estimates from June, the Czech fruit harvest will amount to 31,430 tonnes this year, down 77 percent compared to the five-year average.

The EC had previously proposed releasing EUR 15 million (around CZK 378 million) from reserves to help Czech fruit farmers who had suffered losses due to the frost. With the additional CZK 100 million from the Czech state, that will mean a total of almost half a billion Czech crowns at their disposal. Výborný noted that it would not be possible to compensate 100 percent of the damage, but he said the money would at least help fruit growers survive this difficult period.

In the first six months of this year, the Energy Regulatory Office (ERU) handed out fines amounting to CZK 12 million to energy suppliers and intermediaries for anti-consumer practices, the office said on Thursday. The most common problems had to do with suppliers not fulfilling their obligations regarding billing and complaints. In its more than 20 years of existence, this is the largest amount of money it has ever imposed in fines in a six-month period.