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The director-generals of Czech Television and Czech Radio, Hynek Chudárek and René Zavoral, have called on Culture Minister Ota Klempíř (Motorists‘ Party) to establish a working group to allow discussions over the government’s planned changes to the funding of public service media. They said the group should include media experts and other stakeholders. The appeal was made in a joint press release issued on Wednesday.

The governing coalition of ANO, SPD and the Motorists‘ Party plans to abolish television and radio licence fees and move the funding of public broadcasters to the state budget. The coalition has already agreed that the change would take effect from January 2027. The government argues that the reform would reduce the financial burden on households and businesses.

Chudárek and Zavoral said licence fees remain their preferred funding model, which has proved itself over the past 33 years. They stressed that the issue is not a technical detail but a fundamental condition for the independence and credibility of public service media.

Lawmakers may on Wednesday conclude debate on a no-confidence motion against the government led by Andrej Babiš (ANO Party). Five opposition parties triggered the vote after an escalating dispute between the Motorists Party and President Petr Pavel, who has refused to appoint Filip Turek as environment minister. The ANO–Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party–Motorists coalition is expected to survive, as the opposition controls only 92 of the 200 seats, nine short of the required majority. The vote could take place later on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists' Party) was one of the speakers. He said that Pavel refused to appoint Turek as environment minister not for legal reasons but based on a subjective value judgment. He added that Pavel will never again be the president of all Czechs, continuing in his argumentation that Pavel represents the current opposition.

Motorists’ party MP Filip Turek, the Czech government’s climate change commissioner, will not attend an informal meeting of EU environment ministers in Cyprus, choosing instead to take part in a no-confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies, the Environment Ministry said. Turek had planned to travel with the Slovak delegation, but the trip was cancelled due to a meeting of the Slovak parliament. Czechia will be represented in Cyprus by Deputy Environment Minister Vladislav Smrž (ANO) and senior official Michal Pastvinský. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš confirmed their attendance. Former environment minister Petr Hladík criticised the absence of a cabinet member. The ministry is currently led on an interim basis by Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) amid a dispute with President Petr Pavel over Turek’s appointment.

Mostly cloudy, with occasional rain, locally freezing. Highest temperatures between 0 and 4 °C.