• 01/01/2024

    The majority of Czechs are optimistic about the outlooks for 2024, according to the results of a poll conducted by the Median agency for Czech Radio. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they expected 2024 to be a better year than the preceding one, mainly with respect to the country’s economic performance and their finances. However over 80 percent of respondents expressed serious concern with regard to security. There has been a significant increase in concern over Islamic terrorist attacks in Europe the possible escalation of the war in Ukraine. The poll was conducted in mid-December, before the shooting incident at the Prague Faculty of Arts.

  • 01/01/2024

    The New Year celebrations in Prague passed without serious incident, although many people broke the ban on setting off fireworks in the historic city centre, police and fire crews reported early on Monday. Fire crews were called to 46 fires caused by fireworks, which is less than in previous years and paramedics treated several dozen people, mostly for severe intoxication. Hundreds of people celebrated the arrival of the New Year out in the streets, mainly on Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square which were packed. A clean-up operation started in the early morning hours and should be completed by 2pm at the latest.

  • 12/31/2023

    The first day of 2024 should be partly cloudy with rain in the northern parts of the country and day temperatures between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius.

  • 12/31/2023

    Old-age, disability and widow/widower’s monthly pensions will increase by 360 crowns as of January 1, 2024. According to Czech law, pensions are regularly indexed at the start of the year by a sum reflecting inflation and half the increase in real wages. As earnings have not risen in real terms, the January increase reflects only price rises.

  • 12/31/2023

    Water levels are receding on all of the country’s rivers with a lower-level flood alert remaining in only 15 places along the Vltava and the Elbe, according to information from the Czech Hydro-meteorological Institute. In Krumlov, the water level has risen due to the controlled outflow of water from the Lipno dam. Clean up operations are still underway in some parts of the country, where swollen rivers flooded gardens and cellars in a number of villages.

  • 12/31/2023

    Police are out in force to maintain law and order on the streets of Prague on the last day of the year and ensure that a ban on using fireworks in the historic city centre is observed. Traditionally many people see the New Year in on the streets of the Czech capital. According to Prague City Tourism 90,000 foreign visitors are celebrating New Year’s Eve in Prague this year. A number of traffic restrictions are in force in the city centre in connection with the celebrations.

    Prague will not have a fireworks display or a video mapping show this year. Instead people will get admission for free (or a symbolic price) to Prague Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, Prague towers and a number of other institutions on January 1. Visitors will be asked to present a public transport card or ID to prove that they live in Prague. In view of the recent tragedy at the Faculty of Arts many Czech cities have scrapped their plans for fireworks displays or other boisterous celebrations. Fireworks will not be held in Prague, Brno and Olomouc, among others, on the other hand, Ostrava, Zlín and Plzeň will hold them as planned.

  • 12/31/2023

    Police and firefighters on Saturday rescued a boat that broke loose along with part of a pier in Litoměřice under Tyrš Bridge during the high flood alert. The boat, which had got stuck in the river was safely moored. A part of the pier which was also swept away by high water will be left on the bottom of the river for the time being. The level of the Elbe in Litoměřice dropped to first level alert on Sunday morning.

  • 12/31/2023

    Police are dealing with close to 90 cases of individuals expressing support for the shooting at the Prague Faculty of Arts or threatening to undertake similar action. Most of the cases are linked to social media postings. A spokesman for the police said that of the incidents under investigation, 28 cases involve approval of a criminal act, 11 involve scaremongering, and seven involve hate speech against a group of people or an individual. The attack at the Faculty of Arts, which left 14 people dead and 25 injured, is the worst in the history of the Czech Republic.

  • 12/31/2023

    Czechia has sent the UN Security Council a letter explaining its refusal to take part in a UN Security Council meeting called by Russia on Saturday over the attack on Belgorod near the Ukrainian border. Russia specifically requested Czechia’s presence at the meeting, claiming that the attack, which caused 18 deaths and many injuries, was carried out with Czech-made weapons. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Czechia would not be summoned anywhere by an aggressor to serve their lies and propaganda. When Russia wants to discuss the withdrawal of its occupying forces at the UN Security Council, we will be happy to come," Lipavský wrote on the social network X.

    In a letter to the UN Security Council, Czechia says it regrets every loss of life caused by the senseless war of aggression which Russia has been waging against Ukraine for almost two years, but emphasizes that it is Russia which is responsible for the loss of life on both sides. It says Russia has repeatedly used the UN Security Council as a platform for spreading disinformation and propaganda and it has no reason to believe that this meeting would be any different.

    At the meeting, Moscow said Ukraine had used Czech-made RM-70 Vampire rocket launchers in the attack on Belgorod, but presented no evidence for its claims.

  • 12/30/2023

    Sunday should be mostly overcast with temperatures between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius.

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