News

The Green Circle association of environmental organisations has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), calling on him to take immediate action against what it describes as increasingly aggressive and dehumanising rhetoric from the Motorists of the ruling coalition.

The letter, signed among others by People in Need director Šimon Pánek and Hnutí DUHA programme director Jiří Koželouh, specifically criticises statements by Motorists party leader and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and government commissioner for climate policy and the Green Deal Filip Turek.

In recent weeks, Macinka labelled environmental groups “green terrorists” and described Hnutí DUHA as a “terrorist organisation”. The immediate trigger for the letter was Turek’s recent claim that by obstructing the construction of the Nové Heřminovy dam green activists had a share of the blame for lives lost during the floods.

Czech tennis player Karolína Muchová booked her place in the second round of the French Open after defeating Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova 7-5, 6-2 at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

The tournament’s 10th seed will next face Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan.

By contrast, 12th-seeded Jiří Lehečka suffered an early exit, losing in straight sets to Spain’s world number 89 Pablo Carreño Busta, 3-6, 6-7, 3-6.

President Petr Pavel is the only potential candidate for the next head of state who could receive more than half of the votes. This follows from the results of a survey conducted at the turn of April and May, which was published today on the STEM/MARK agency’s website. According to the survey, 53 percent of people in the Czech Republic would vote or might vote for Pavel, followed by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) with 44 percent.

Among other figures presented to respondents by STEM/MARK, actor and presenter Marek Eben would receive 40 percent, Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček (ANO) 35 percent, and Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (ANO) 30 percent.

The new Apostolic Nuncio to the Czech Republic is Archbishop Eugene Martin Nugent, who was born in Ireland. After his appointment by Pope Leo XIV, his name was announced today at noon by the Vatican press office, according to Monika Klimentová, spokesperson for the Czech Bishops’ Conference, told ČTK.

The papal nuncio represents the Vatican in the Czech Republic. The outgoing nuncio, Jude Thaddeus Okolo, who is being replaced by the 67-year-old Nugent, became the Vatican’s ambassador to Haiti after his appointment by the Pope this year.

Archbishop Eugene Martin Nugent was born on October 21, 1958, in County Clare in western Ireland. He has most recently served as the Holy See’s envoy to Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. He is an archbishop in the Irish diocese of Domnach Sechnaill.