No funding for RPI in draft 2027 budget but ministry says money may be found

The Czech Republic’s draft state budget for 2027 does not include any funding for Radio Prague International, the news outlet Seznam Zprávy reported on Tuesday. In a chapter outlining the specific budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which funds the station, no money is allocated for international radio broadcasting.

The minister of foreign affairs, Petr Macinka, cut Radio Prague International’s budget by one-quarter this year and had said it would not receive any state backing in 2027.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later told Seznam Zprávy that it had based its calculations on an expected change in the law – and if this legislation was not enacted by the end of 2026 it would cover expenditures for international broadcasting. The legal change evidently refers to an overhaul of the financing of public broadcasters.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Czech Radio, of which RPI is part, said that the station was confident it would be able to reverse the plan to cut funding, and that talks on the matter were at an early stage.