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Prime Minister Petr Fiala has thrown his weight behind the embattled Labour Minister Marian Jurečka who has come under pressure to resign because he did not cancel a Christmas party held at the ministry on the night of tragic shooting at Charles University and himself attended it until the late night hours. “Mr. Jurečka made an error in judgement, but he regrets the mistake and has since apologized,” Prime Minister Fiala said at a press briefing on Tuesday before departing for a working visit to India. The prime minister added that he thinks this was the right way to handle things and thus considers the matter closed. The Christian Democratic Party is to meet on Tuesday evening to take a stand on the matter.

In answer to a question from a journalist about whether the labour minister would receive a "yellow card" for his actions, as Justice Minister Pavel Blažek did for his meeting with controversial political lobbyist Martin Nejedlý last year, Mr. Fiala responded that that was an error "of a different magnitude".

Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský has awarded a Medal of Merit in Diplomacy to the outgoing French ambassador Alexis Dutertre for his "extraordinary contribution" to Czech-French relations and his role in shaping the French position towards events in Ukraine, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on social media site X on Monday.

At the beginning of his career at the French Foreign Ministry, Alexis Dutertre led negotiations on the accession of central and eastern European countries, including the Czech Republic, to the European Union. He took up his post in Prague in October 2020 and is now leaving to serve as an advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron.

Tuesday is expected to be sunny and bright but extremely cold, with temperatures well below zero throughout the day and night. The highest daytime temperature is predicted to be minus 2 degrees Celsius, dropping to a low of minus 9 at night. No precipitation is expected.

Labour and Social Affairs Minister and head of the Christian Democrats Marian Jurečka has said that he himself will not propose his own departure from his ministerial post at the Christian Democrat Party leadership meeting on Tuesday evening, nor does he expect any of his party's coalition partners to suggest it. The deputy head of the party, Šárka Jelínková, said that the party leadership will support Mr. Jurečka in remaining in his post.

Mr. Jurečka is under fire for attending a ministry Christmas party at the time of the shooting at Charles University's Faculty of Arts on 21 December last year, with some calling for his resignation as labour minister. The Christian Democrat Party leadership, which consists of 39 people, moved its meeting from the end of January to Tuesday evening in order to discuss the matter.