News: Thursday, January 9th, 2025

Government approves program to prepare citizens for periods of crises or war

The government on Wednesday approved a Program for Preparing Citizens for National Defense in the years between 2025 and 2030. The document emphasizes survival tactics for the broad public, training courses for students, public administration employees and cooperation with NGOs. The aim of the program is to gradually create a coordinated system of preparing citizens for periods of crises or war. In past years survival courses and national defense programs focused mainly on primary and secondary schools. In view of the worsening security situation the authorities emphasize the need to gradually extend courses in survival tactics, first aid and defense training to the entire population.

Czechs divided over Green Deal, concerned about rising energy prices, survey shows

A new survey by the CVVM agency published on Thursday shows that seven out of ten people in Czechia believe the European Green Deal is causing energy prices to rise too much. However, the public is split when it comes to supporting or opposing the deal itself.

The Green Deal aims to make the European Union climate-neutral by 2050. In the survey, 48 percent of Czechs support the deal, with 11 percent strongly agreeing and 37 percent agreeing somewhat. On the other side, nearly half of respondents oppose it—31 percent somewhat and 17 percent strongly, while about 4 percent are unsure.

The survey also found that women are more likely to support the Green Deal than men and younger people are more supportive than older generations. Support increases among those who are more concerned about climate change.

Unemployment in Czechia rises to 4.1% in December

Unemployment in Czechia rose to 4.1% in December, up from 3.9% in November, the Czech Statistics Office reported on Thursday. Around 306,478 people were looking for work, an increase of 16,000 from the previous month, while job vacancies fell by 9,000 to 246,573. A year earlier, in December 2023, unemployment stood at 3.7%.

The highest unemployment rates were in the Ústí nad Labem region at 6.2% and the Moravian-Silesian region at 5.8%. Prague recorded the lowest rate at 2.8%. Among districts, Karviná had the highest unemployment at 8.5%, while Prague-East had the lowest at 1.5%.

There were 1.2 jobseekers per job vacancy in December, with Karviná experiencing the greatest competition—11.4 applicants per job. In contrast, districts like Mladá Boleslav and Prague-East had just 0.3 applicants per position.

Czech beer exports to Russia grow despite industry stance

In the last two years, 27 distributors have been exporting Czech beer to Russia, the Czech News Agency reported on Thursday, citing data from the Czech Statistics Office. In 2023, Czechia exported beer worth CZK 728 million to Russia, with breweries accounting for 79%.

By October 2023, beer exports reached CZK 819 million, with breweries contributing CZK 615 million, or three-quarters of the total. However, the Czech Union of Breweries and Maltsters, representing 24 breweries, confirmed its members do not export beer to Russia.

Data shows that Russia was the third-largest market for Czech beer last year, after Germany and Slovakia, with nearly 33,100 tonnes exported. This represents a 27% increase compared to the same period in 2023. According to Russia's RIA Novosti, Germans and Czechs were the leading suppliers of beer to Russia last year.

Road fatalities in Czechia hit six-decade low

In 2024, 438 people lost their lives on Czech roads, marking the lowest number of road fatalities since 1961, the year police began keeping continuous statistics. This figure represents 17 fewer deaths than in 2023.

Police reported 92,217 traffic accidents last year, a decrease of 2,728 compared to the previous year. Serious injuries also declined, with 1,609 people suffering life-threatening injuries.

However, there was a slight year-on-year rise in the number of people with minor injuries, which totalled 23,917, up slightly from 23,882 in 2023. Material damage from road accidents climbed to nearly eight billion crowns.

October emerged as the deadliest month of the year, with 48 fatalities. Police released these statistics during a press conference on Thursday.

Court confirms Prague Castle courtyards not public space

The Constitutional Court has confirmed that the courtyards of Prague Castle are not public spaces. The decision follows a legal dispute over a denied request to hold a demonstration in 2021 on U Svatého Jiří Square, between St. Vitus Cathedral and St. George's Basilica. The court ruled that rallies on Castle grounds require approval from the Prague Castle Administration.

The challenge claimed that Prague Castle is historically a public space and that restricting access violates the right to peaceful assembly. However, the judges found no grounds to overturn the verdict, stating that the square is not a public space inherently. The case was brought by the group Kverulant, which sought to open the Castle to the public during Miloš Zeman’s presidency.

Visitor numbers to national monuments and sites still below pre-Covid levels

More than four million people visited castles, chateaus and other objects administered by the National Heritage Institute (NPA) in 2024, which is five percent less than a year earlier. The lower visitor numbers in the summer were offset by heightened interest in the autumn and during Advent, when many institutions offer a special Christmas program, Blanka Černá, spokeswoman for the National Heritage Institute, told the Czech News Agency. Lednice Castle in the Břeclav region and Český Krumlov Castle attracted the most visitors. The annual number of visitors to NPA sites still remains below pre-Covid levels when approximately 5 million people visited the NPA's monuments.

The National Heritage Institute manages more than 100 buildings, including monasteries, churches, garden complexes, hospitals, villas and technical monuments, in addition to castles and chateaus. Some of them are also accessible during the winter; opening hours can be checked on the websites of the individual monuments. The main tourist season this year will start on 5 April.

Scientists take another step in saving the northern white rhino

The BioRescue team has successfully cultivated five more embryos of the critically endangered northern white rhino. The news, announced Thursday by Czechia's Dvůr Králové Zoo, marks another significant step in efforts to save the species. These embryos, now frozen, will soon be implanted into surrogate southern white rhinos.

Since 2019, a total of 35 embryos have been created using eggs from Fatu, one of the last two northern white rhinos in Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Reserve, and frozen sperm from deceased males. With no northern white rhinos left in the wild, the goal is to use artificial reproduction to help save the subspecies.

Weather forecast

Friday will be cloudy with occasional snow showers, especially in the mountains. Day temperatures will range from +1 to -3°C.