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The Constitutional Court has annulled a legal provision that allowed separate enrolment of children from Ukraine into primary schools. The court upheld a petition by a group of senators who argued that the separate enrolments were discriminatory. In its ruling, the court criticised the unequal treatment of a particularly vulnerable group — refugee children — noting that the legislation complicated their access to education. Newly-appointed Education Minister Robert Plaga (ANO) welcomed the court’s decision stressing that violating the principle of equal access to education is unacceptable.

The Czech Republic does not question the need for European Union support for Ukraine, but would prefer to have it financed in the same way as until now, without extraordinary guarantees from Prague, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) said at a meeting of the Chamber of Deputies’ European Affairs Committee ahead of an upcoming European Council summit.

EU leaders will decide at the summit between two proposed options for financing Ukraine in 2026 and 2027. The European Commission has put forward either an EU loan or a so-called reparations loan backed by frozen Russian assets.

According to Babiš, the Czech Republic could in principle support using frozen Russian assets to secure a loan for Ukraine to ensure the functioning of the state, but only under certain conditions. Belgium’s concerns must be fully taken into account, and any guarantees provided by member states must remain entirely voluntary, he said. Babiš added that it would make more sense to use frozen Russian assets for reparations after the end of the war.

The short Hurikán by Czech director Jan Saska has made the shortlist for Oscar nominations in the category of Best Animated Short Film, the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Wednesday.

Hurikán, described as a gritty romance set in Prague’s Žižkov district, won the Audience Award last year at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. The black-and-white animated film also received high marks from members of the Czech Film Critics Association.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš travels to Brussels on Wednesday where he will attend his first EU summit since his appointment as prime minister. Ahead of the summit, which begins on Thursday, Babiš will meet with leaders from the European Parliament faction Patriots for Europe and take part in a summit between the EU and Western Balkan countries. The meeting is intended to review relations between the two sides.

The new Czech foreign minister, Petr Macinka, is also expected to represent Czechia at Thursday’s EU summit.