Daily news summary

President meets with Industry and Trade Minister candidate

President Miloš Zeman continues to meet individually with members of the proposed minority government led by Andrej Babiš, ahead of the government’s official appointment next week.

Tomáš Hüner, set to be the next Industry and Trade Minister, met with the head of state at Lány Chateau on Sunday. He told journalists after the meeting that priorities for him were energetics, mineral resources and clean-up of environmental damages.

The new government is to be named on December 13.

President Zeman receives indirect support from Freedom and Democracy Party

The far-right Freedom and Democracy Party expressed indirect support to president Miloš Zeman, who is running for re-election in January. According to a resolution passed at the party congress on Saturday, the future president should support direct democracy, fight for national interests and against migration and islamization.

President Miloš Zeman, who delivered an opening speech at the party congress on Saturday, said he agreed with the party on most issues, with the exception of Czech exit from the EU. He also criticized them for not supporting Czech foreign military missions.

A number of Czech politicians, including former human rights minister Jiří Dientsbier and TOP09 leader Jiří Pospíšil have slammed president Miloš Zeman for appearing at the congress of the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party.

Czech Republic and Saxony seek joint UNESCO nomination

The Czech Republic and Saxony will repeatedly submit their nomination of the mining region of Krušnohoří/Erzgebirge for UNESCO World Heritage Site listing. The joint nomination will be signed on Monday by Czech culture minister Daniel Herman and Saxony State interior minister Markus Ulbig.

The mountain region has been formed by 800 years of ore mining and processing and contains a number of unique historical mine shafts and other mining monuments.

The historical mining towns on both sides of the borders, including Jáchymov and Krupka in the Ore Mountains, have been seeking the prestigious label since 2014. The revised nomination will be submitted to the UNESCO committee at the beginning of 2018.

Czech fish consumption lowest since 1995

Despite the annual Christmas carp sales, consumption of fish in the Czech Republic keeps stagnating. According to the data of the Czech Statistical Office, Czechs consumed 5.1kilos of fish per person last year, which was a drop by 7.5 percent on the previous year and also the lowest figure since 1995.

Fish consumption in the Czech Republic remains to be one of the lowest in the European Union, where it amounts to around 11 kilograms per head. The amount recommended by the WHO is 17 kilograms of fish per head.

Small earthquake strikes in Moravia-Silesia

The Moravian-Silesian region in the north-east of the Czech Republic was struck by a small earthquake at around 4 AM on Sunday. The epicenter of the quake, with a magnitude of 3.5 on the Richter scale, was located near the town of Hlučín, twelve kilometers below the ground level. No damages or injuries were reported.

According to Jan Zedník of the Institute of Geophysics at the Czech Academy of Sciences, earthquakes are very rare in Moravia and Silesia. The strongest earthquake to have been felt in the region was in 1935 and measured four degrees on the Richter scale.

Some 10,000 people attended Olympic concert at Prague’s O2 Arena

Around 10,000 people attended a concert of the legendary Czech rock band Olympic at Prague’s O2 Arena on Saturday night. The show, marking 55 years of the band’s existence, was attended by a number of guests, including Marta Jandová, the daughter of leader Petr Janda. Olympic, whose first LP Želva came out in 1968, had a huge impact on Czech pop and big beat.

Weather

Monday is expected to be overcast with occasional rain and snow showers and daytime highs ranging between 6 and 10 degrees.