News

The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, says he is sceptical whether a meeting of the premiers of the Visegrad Four states would at present lead to any results. Czechia currently holds the rotating presidency of the group, which also includes Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, but has not yet convened a gathering at prime ministerial level.

Speaking in Brno on Saturday, Mr. Fiala said such a meeting was not necessary in view of how things were going at the European Council, but also said he was ready to call a gathering of V4 leaders in future.

The positions of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovak PM Robert Fico have recently diverged at European level from those of Czechia and Poland, especially with regard to support for Ukraine.

A new approach to care in the form of social health services could be introduced in Czechia next year, according to a draft amendment that has been put forward by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Czech News Agency reported on Saturday.

Under the proposed changes, such services should be provided by hospitals, long-term care facilities, old folks’ homes and mental health facilities. From 2027 patients would have to pay at long-term care facilities after the initial three months.

The proposals were met with criticism when they were first floated by the ministry a year ago.

It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Sunday, with an average high temperature of 2 degrees Celsius. Similar weather is expected at the start of the week.

Budějovický Budvar brewed a record 1.865 million hectoliters of beer last year, up 4.3 percent year-on-year, the head of the brewery Petr Dvořák told the ctk news agency. He says the brewery expects record sales of more than CZK 3 billion in 2023. This year, Budvar is planning to spend CZK 60 million to expand its capacity to gradually increase production to 2.1 million hectoliters. In 2026, it plans to start upgrading its visitor center and grounds at a cost of hundreds of millions. Budvar raised the price of its beers between 5 and 8 percent at the end of last year, and says it is not planning a further increase this year.