News: Tuesday, June 25th, 2024

PM Fiala: First shipment of ammunition arrives in Ukraine

The first shipment of ammunition for Ukraine, organized by Czechia, has arrived in the country, Prime Minister Fiala said on the X network on Tuesday. The Czech head of government said at the end of May that 15 EU and NATO member countries have so far contributed more than 1.6 billion euros (39.5 billion crowns) to the initiative, in which Czechia is acquiring artillery ammunition for Ukraine from countries outside of the European Union. The government will not be disclosing details about the amount of ammunition delivered or its origin.

President, PM and opposition leader discussing foreign policy and security

President Petr Pavel is holding talks with Prime Minister Petr Fiala and the leader of the opposition ANO party, Andrej Babiš on foreign policy and security issues at Prague Castle on Tuesday. The talks are aimed at fine-tuning the country’s position on issues to be discussed at the upcoming NATO summit, due to take place in Washington in July. The last such meeting between the president and heads of the government and opposition took place a year ago ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius.

Czech foreign minister holding talks in Ankara

Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský is on a one-day visit to Ankara where he is discussing bilateral relations, security issues, EU-Turkey relations, migration and the situation in the Middle East with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. The head of Czech diplomacy will also visit the Turkish Parliament, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, and address a reception marking the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

At a press briefing before his departure, Lipavský said he would also bring up the issue of Russian imperialism. Turkey maintains active relations with Russia. Fidan met Russian President Vladimir Putin two weeks ago and attended a meeting in Nizhny Novgorod of the BRICS group of countries, which includes Russia, China and India, among others. In this context, the media reported that Ankara was showing an interest in joining the group.

ANO not to block government- proposed amendment to the Atomic Energy Act

The opposition ANO party will not block the government's amendment to the Atomic Energy Act, which should open the way for the construction of new nuclear units and small modular reactors. Party deputy chair Karel Havlíček said on Tuesday that accelerating the construction of nuclear power plants and modular reactors is a step in the right direction and would help meet the country's climate goals. The lower house is set to discuss the amendment this week.

President Pavel making new appointments to Constitutional Court

President Petr Pavel will appoint Veronika Křesťanová vice-chair of the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. She is replacing Vojtěch Šimíček whose ten-year term in office expired earlier this month. The head of state will also appoint two new constitutional court judges, Jiří Přibáň and Tomáš Langášek, whose nomination was approved by the Senate last week.

Křesťanová became a constitutional court judge last August. Přibáň graduated from the Faculty of Law at Charles University and is a professor of law at Cardiff University in Wales. Langášek has been a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court since March 2013.

Argentina’s Milei meets top Czech leaders in Prague

Argentinean President Javier Milei met Czech leaders including President Petr Pavel and Prime Minister Petr Fiala in Prague on Monday evening, as well as making a speech at a conference on ineffective government at the city’s Žofín Palace.

After talks with President Pavel at Prague Castle Mr. Milei said that both their countries supported Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, against brutal Russian aggression and also agreed on Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism.

Slovak police arrest Czech citizen on European arrest warrant

Slovak police have arrested a Czech citizen who was wanted on a European arrest warrant issued by a Czech court. According to Seznam Zpravy the detainee, who will be handed over to the Czech authorities, is Pavel Zítko. He faces charges of scaremongering and spreading disinformation in connection with the covid-19 pandemic when he warned people about the negative health consequences of vaccination against the coronavirus. Zítko failed to appear in court for the trial.

Slow transition to electric cars means Škoda will produce some models for longer

Carmaker Škoda Auto will extend the production of its Fabia, Kamiq and Scala models to the end of this decade, the head of the company, Klaus Zellmer, said in an interview with Seznam Zprávy published on Tuesday. The reasons are a slower than expected transition to electric cars at Czechia’s biggest exporter, as well as high demand for those models internationally.

Production of the Kodiaq, Superb and Octavia lines will continue even after 2030, Mr. Zellmer said.

Weather forecast

Wednesday should be clear to partly cloudy with rain in the south-eastern parts of the country and day temperatures between 25 and 29 degrees Celsius.