News

In recent years, between 20 and 30 extremely premature babies weighing less than 500 grams have been born each year in the Czech Republic.

At the Institute for the Care of Mother and Child in Prague-Podolí, doctors are currently caring for five such infants; the smallest weighed just 390 grams at birth. They are given caffeine, and milk is administered to them by spoon.

“Each hospitalization of an extremely premature newborn represents thousands of hours of specialized care and enormous commitment from the entire team,” said Jan Širc from Charles University.

While mothers and babies after uncomplicated births are often discharged from hospital after 48 hours, extremely premature newborns remain in hospital for an average of 140 days—almost half a year.

Solar panels have started to increase in price, with their cost rising by as much as 50% since the beginning of this year. Just last year, however, panel prices in the Czech Republic were dropping at a record rate. The reversal in the price trend has been driven mainly by rising costs of key raw materials, as well as increased demand and higher logistics expenses. This follows from information provided by the solar company Greenbuddies. Companies in the sector no longer expect prices to decrease.

According to solar firms, several factors are behind this shift. One of them is adjustments in production capacity and rising prices of input materials. These have been influenced, for example, by changes in China, as noted by the company Raylyst Solar. Since the beginning of this year, China has tightened its energy and environmental standards for processing silicon, a key component used in solar panel production.

In 2026, apartment prices in Czechia could increase by more than seven percent. Despite a roughly three percent rise in the supply of new apartments on the market—both nationwide and in Prague—demand for housing remains high.

This follows from a study by the analytical company CEEC Research, presented at the conference Meeting of Development Leaders in Prague. A total of 36 development companies focused on residential construction took part in the study.

A price increase is planned by 92 percent of developers, with an average rise of 7.3 percent. According to company estimates, the supply of apartments on the market in the first half of 2026 will increase compared to the second half of 2025 by approximately 3.5 percent across the country and by three percent in Prague. At the same time, however, demand is also expected to grow—and at a faster pace than supply.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is due to visit Prague on Thursday for talks with the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš. The two are expected to discuss Czechia’s defence spending commitments and its army, the Czech News Agency said.

President Petr Pavel, a former chair of the NATO military committee, said the visit was a “logical” step as the alliance often consulted with states where some problem might arise ahead of summits. NATO is holding a summit in Ankara in July.

Mr. Pavel has been critical of the fact that the Czech government’s budget for 2026 will not meet a NATO commitment to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defence. The US ambassador to Prague also called on Czechia to invest more in this area.

Mr. Rutte and Mr. Babiš are due to hold a joint news conference in the early evening.