President approves government austerity package

President Petr Pavel has signed off on the government's austerity package, the final step required for it to be passed into law, the Office of the President announced on its website. President Pavel announced his decision to sign the bill earlier on Wednesday. In a video posted on social media site X, he said that he had decided to approve it because of the unsustainable growth rate of Czechia's national debt, adding that if something wasn't done about the state's budget deficit, the country would be passing on the debt to its children and grandchildren.

He met with three members of the opposition ANO party on Tuesday, who urged him not to approve the bill, which the opposition have fiercely contested from the outset. ANO politician and former finance minister Alena Schillerová said after the meeting that if the president approves the measures, then they will almost certainly take the matter to the Constitutional Court.