• 04/24/2024

    Western countries, including Czechia, are considering very carefully which sensitive information to share with Slovakia due to the pro-Russian stance of the Fico government, Czech daily Deník N reported on Wednesday. Several central and western European intelligence agency sources and a high-ranking NATO diplomat have confirmed this, the news site said. A high-ranking Czech official said that, unlike with previous Slovak governments, Western and central European states are already filtering which information they share with Czechia's neighbour and are not providing them with all the documents and details they have at their disposal.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 04/24/2024

    Thursday is expected to be overcast and cloudy with a chance of rain. Daytime temperatures should range between 4 and 10 degrees Celsius.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 04/24/2024

    Andrej Babiš's ANO party would have won parliamentary elections with 32 percent of the vote if they had taken place in March, the latest Median poll indicates. Prime Minister Petr Fiala's Civic Democrat (ODS) party would have come in second with 14 percent and their government coalition partners the Pirates would have been not far behind with 10.5 percent.

    The opposition Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) would have gained seven percent of the vote and government coalition partners the Mayors and Independents (STAN) six percent. The other two parties making up the five-party government coalition, TOP 09 and the Christian Democrats, would not have passed the minimum five percent threshold needed to make it into parliament, the first time in a year that TOP 09 would have found itself with no parliamentary representation.

    Meanwhile, support has grown for parties that currently do not hold any seats in parliament, such as the Communist party, PRO 2022, and the Greens.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 04/24/2024

    In its annual report assessing the state of human rights in 155 countries around the world, Amnesty International has criticised Czechia for the segregation of Roma children in schools, discrimination against Ukrainians, and the export of weapons to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The report said that over the last year, Ukrainian refugees had been the target of hate speech and discrimination in Czechia, and the de facto segregation of Roma children in the education system had persisted. The organisation also criticises Czechia for having an outdated law on access to abortions and for not making any progress in furthering the rights of sexual minorities.

    Author: Anna Fodor
  • 04/24/2024

    The European Commission has appointed former Czech environment minister Jan Dusík as Deputy Director-General for Climate Action. The main mission of this department is to support the Commission's efforts to fight climate change both within the EU and internationally. Dusik, who has extensive professional experience in the area of climate action, is now among the highest-ranking Czech officials in the EU.

  • 04/24/2024

    The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit Prague on Tuesday 30 April, the ctk news agency reported citing a source from the European People’s Party. Von der Leyen ’s visit is part of her election campaign for the European People's Party and her own bid for a second term in office as President of the European Commission. In Prague she is to meet with representatives of parties running in the elections, especially from TOP 09 and the Christian Democrats which are in the EPP. Her agenda is still being finalized.

  • 04/23/2024

    The website of the Czech News Agency České Noviny was attacked by unknown hackers on Tuesday who posted two fictitious articles on the site. One of the articles claimed that the Czech counterintelligence service had prevented an assassination attempt on Slovak President Petr Pelligrini, the other carried an alleged reaction from Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský to the news. The news agency later posted a warning to readers saying neither of the texts was produced by its staff. The case is being investigated.

  • 04/23/2024

    The heads of the armed forces of the V4 member states - Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – are meeting in Liblice, central Bohemia, to discuss defense cooperation and aid to Ukraine. On the agenda are ongoing military assistance and training of Ukrainian soldiers, joint training activities of the four countries, the future of the V4 battle group known as the EUBG, cooperation in logistics within the V4 Joint Logistics Group and activities countering hybrid threats from Russia. The Czech Republic currently holds the presidency of the Visegrad Group, with Poland due to take over in July.

  • 04/23/2024

    Sub degree temperatures continue to cause problems around the country with monitoring stations reporting night time lows of -10 to – 15 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country and fresh snow in the mountain regions. Rail traffic has been disrupted these past two days by fallen trees and road traffic in the higher altitudes is complicated by fresh snow and icy roads. Farmers are concerned about the effects of the cold spell on this year’s harvest with some predicting losses of up to 40 percent.

  • 04/23/2024

    Wednesday should bring overcast skies and rain or snow showers around the country. Day temperatures should range between 7 and 11 degrees in Bohemia and 2 and 5 degrees in Moravia and Silesia.

Pages