News

President Petr Pavel has invited Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) to talks at Prague Castle on Wednesday to discuss the rift in relations with Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists), the Presidential Office announced. Early this week the president accused the foreign minister of trying to blackmail him into appointing Filip Turek environment minister and made public several text messages sent to him by the head of diplomacy. Petr Macinka has rejected the claim, saying that the messages were part of “legitimate political negotiations”.

Prime Minister Babiš welcomed the invitation to Prague Castle. He said he would consider it ideal for the president to discuss the matter directly with Mr. Macinka, but added that he respects President Pavel’s approach. The two officials are also expected to discuss foreign policy matters after the cancellation of foreign policy consultations at Prague Castle this week.

One of the oldest designs of the Czechoslovak state flag has become part of the collections of Prague’s Military History Institute (VHÚ). The valuable artifact, designed by co-founder of Czechoslovakia, Milan Rastislav Štefánik, and recently received by President Petr Pavel, during a visit to the Vatican, was formally handed over this week to by the President’s Military Office to the institute’s director. The 1918 flag is set to undergo restoration and will be presented to the public later this year as part of a new exhibition at the Vítkov National Memorial.

Saturday should be overcast around the country, with snow showers only expected in the mountain regions, and day temperatures between -1 and 3 degrees Celsius.

After nearly eight hours of debate on Thursday, the Chamber of Deputies supported in the first reading a proposal to replace the existing Civil Service Act with a new law. The governing coalition says the new legislation on state employees would make it easier to replace senior officials and increase flexibility in the civil service, while reducing administrative burden, rigidity and outdated bureaucratic practices. Opposition politicians have criticized the proposal, arguing it was not prepared by the government but by MPs and is not accompanied by thorough analyses of its impacts. They objected in particular to plans allowing ministers to appoint and dismiss state secretaries and to abolish service commissions after one year, bodies that civil servants can turn to for protection against pressure. The current Civil Service Act, aimed at depoliticizing public administration, has been in force since 2015.