News

The Czech Chamber of Deputies will vote on Wednesday on whether to return next year’s draft state budget to the government for revision, the Czech News Agency reported. The outgoing government coalition of Petr Fiala (ODS) submitted the proposal with a planned deficit of CZK 286 billion in October, but the incoming ANO, SPD and Motorists coalition claims roughly CZK 96 billion is missing and wants the draft rewritten.

Andrej Babiš, leader of ANO and likely the next Czech prime minister, said on Tuesday that the draft state budget is unfixable and must be rewritten. The new budget committee, where the incoming coalition holds a majority, has already recommended sending it back.

The debate is also being linked to the incoming coalition’s proposal – led by SPD – to freeze politicians‘ salaries from January.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer), Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (Fidesz) and likely future Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) as “pragmatists” who “care about their citizens,” the Russian state agency TASS reported. He made the remarks in an interview for the YouTube channel of the French-Russian Dialogue association, also published by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“We have no illusions about those now governing the West,” Lavrov said, naming Orbán, Fico and Babiš as exceptions. “They are not pro-Russian, but simply pro-Hungarian, pro-Slovak, pro-Czech, and think of their citizens.” He went on to claim that they do not want to “call on their citizens to sacrifice their children in support of the Nazi regime in Kyiv,” echoing the Kremlin’s false justification for the war.

The outgoing Czech government has strongly backed Ukraine, while the server Politico recently noted that Babiš is publicly known for wanting to limit assistance to Kyiv. President Petr Pavel earlier urged Babiš to include a clear stance on the war in Ukraine—specifically identifying Russia as a threat and committing to NATO obligations—in the incoming coalition’s programme, but he rejected the request.

Prague’s Christmas tree was installed overnight at the city’s Old Town Square. The 26-meter-tall spruce, brought from the Děčín region in northern Czechia, was trimmed by about four meters for transport. Decorating begins on Tuesday, with the official lighting ceremony set for Saturday.

The tree will feature 25 large white light balls, 342 traditional ornaments, and roughly 8.5 kilometers of fairy lights, the company Technologie hlavního města Prahy (THMP) confirmed.

Police carried out a raid on Tuesday at the Prague headquarters of the Czech Railway Administration (Správa železnic) and at other locations across the city, the spokesperson of the National Centre Against Organized Crime (NCOZ) confirmed to Czech Radio. According to the investigative portal Odkryto.cz, the operation concerns public contracts, including the reconstruction of a railway node by Pardubice and the construction of Brno’s new station.

A spokesperson for the Railway Administration said the authorities requested certain documents and confirmed that the agency is fully cooperating. According to Odkryto.cz, the raid also involves the Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD).