News: Thursday, May 9th, 2024

PM Fiala: Czechia ought to have ambassador in Russia

Czechia ought to have an ambassador in Russia, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in a video debate for the Czech daily Deník on Thursday, although he added that he could not say how long the position would remain vacant. He said that filling the role in Moscow was a goal for the government but was not specific about the timeline.

The current Czech ambassador to Russia, Vítězslav Pivoňka, has been recalled by the government and will be leaving his post at the end of this month.

Survey: Czechs vote in EP elections to express opinion on government rather than influence EU policy

The most commonly cited reason for Czechs to participate in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June is to express their opinion on the current government, a survey by the Ipsos agency for ČTK Connect has found. More survey respondents said they would vote in the EP elections for this reason than said they would to influence the direction and content of European Union policy.

According to the survey, roughly six out of ten Czechs are interested in the EP elections and around a third of eligible voters are planning to go to the polls on June 7 and 8.

Survey: V4 residents concerned about foreign influence on EP elections

More than a third of the population of the V4 countries, including Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, perceive attempts by foreign states to influence the upcoming European elections as a major problem, suggests a survey carried out by the Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO). In Czechia, this is the case with 35 percent of the population.

While Czechs, Poles and Hungarians are most worried about Russian influence, Slovaks are more concerned about EU influence, according to the survey. Czechs and Poles also showed a higher level of satisfaction with the functioning of democracy compared to the other two countries surveyed, with about a quarter of the Czech population trusting the European Parliament and the European Commission.

Around half of reports filed through online trust box app in Czechia concern bullying

Over 9,000 reports have been filed by schoolchildren via the application 'Nenech to být' or 'Don't Let It Be', about half of which concern bullying, the platform announced in a press release on Thursday. The other 50 percent are related to learning difficulties (10 percent), problems at home (10 percent), and the remaining 30 percent fall into the "other" category.

The app was invented in 2017 by three high school students from Brno, functioning as an online trust box through which students can contact their schools about anything concerning them or their classmates. In the seven years that the app has been around, 2,050 of Czechia's 4,276 primary and 1,304 secondary schools have joined the platform, and it is also used by schools in the USA, Germany, Slovakia, Finland and Norway.

Retail sales in Czechia accelerate for fourth consecutive month

Retail sales in Czechia accelerated year-on-year to 6.1 percent in March, the Czech Statistics Office reported on Thursday, with sales increasing year-on-year for the fourth consecutive month. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales rose by 1.3 percent.

Shoppers spent 7.7 percent more on non-food items and four percent more on food compared to March last year. Sales of fuel increased by 6.7 percent.

Červenka named captain of Czech national hockey team for world championships

Forward Roman Červenka will be the captain of the Czech hockey team at the 2024 Ice Hockey World Championships beginning on Friday in Prague and Ostrava, team spokesperson Ondřej Kalát announced in a press release. The 38-year-old Červenka is the most experienced player on the team and was also captain at the previous two tournaments. This will be his 11th time playing for the national team at the hockey world championships.

Weather forecast

Friday is expected to be cloudy but dry, with some spells of sunshine here and there. Daytime temperatures should range between 12 and 18 degrees Celsius.