News

Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te on Tuesday awarded Czech Senate Speaker Miloš Vystrčil the Order of Propitious Clouds, one of Taiwan’s highest honors for foreign nationals.

According to Taiwan’s News Agency (CNA), the honor recognizes Vystrčil’s long-standing support for Taiwan and democratic values, as well as his contribution to strengthening ties between Taiwan and the Czech Republic.

During the award ceremony, Lai said that Taiwan and the Czech Republic have significantly deepened their partnership in recent years. He noted that cooperation has expanded beyond the protection of shared democratic values to include trade, technology, culture, and education.

The head of the Czech Senate is on four-day working visit to Taiwan during which he is meeting with government officials and representatives of the business, academic and cultural sectors.

Czech tennis player Jakub Menšík will make his Grand Slam quarter-final debut at Roland Garros on Tuesday, taking on Brazil's João Fonseca for a place in the last four.

Seeded 26th in Paris, Menšík reached the quarter-finals after defeating Russia's Andrey Rublev in five sets on Sunday, 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3. On his way to the last eight, he also eliminated eighth seed Alex de Minaur, Argentina's Mariano Navone and French wildcard Titouan Droguet.

The match between the 20-year-old from Prostějov and the 19-year-old Brazilian, seeded 28th, will conclude the programme on Court Philippe-Chatrier as part of the tournament's night session and is scheduled to start no earlier than 8:15 p.m. local time.

Shareholders in the Czech majority state-owned energy giant CEZ have approved the process of hiving off the non-power generation side of the company, Czech Television reported. This will be part of a broader restructuring and analysts say the split is the first step toward the planned nationalisation of CEZ by the current government.

The plan was approved by shareholders, including the government, at an annual general meeting.

The nationalisation of CEZ is one of the stated goals of the current government, which justifies it by citing the need to give the company more freedom to invest. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has previously stated that the cabinet aims to complete the process of taking full control of CEZ by the end of the current legislative term in 2029 at the latest.

Representatives of the coalition government of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy and the Motorists have agreed that for a referendum to be valid and binding, it will require the approval of at least 35 percent of all eligible voters. This was announced to journalists by Tomio Okamura, chairman of Freedom and Direct Democracy and lower house speaker.

The coalition parties had previously agreed on other parameters of a draft constitutional bill on general referendums. The coalition will now submit the proposal to the legislative process.

To pass a constitutional bill, approval is required from a three-fifths majority of all members of the Chamber of Deputies and a three-fifths majority of senators present in the upper house. The coalition has 108 seats in the 200-seat lower house.