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Former Czech President Miloš Zeman met with Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár at his home in Lány in the Kladno region on Saturday, and during the meeting Mr. Zeman expressed support for Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. The two agreed on the importance of the best possible relations between the two neighbouring states, which have cooled at the government level recently.
"I have always cared about Czech-Slovak friendship. It is a rare thing, and I know that it will overcome even more difficult periods," said Mr. Zeman after today's meeting with Blanár, who gave him a personal greeting from Prime Minister Fico. "I returned the warm greeting and asked the minister to convey my support to Robert Fico," said the former Czech president.
The government of current Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala suspended Czech-Slovak intergovernmental consultations last March, due to differences of opinion between Prague and Bratislava on key foreign policy topics, most notably on Ukraine. Fico has recently criticised Czechia for what he sees as its politicians and media interfering in Slovakia's internal affairs. Prime Minister Fiala called the accusation absurd, and Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský also strongly rejected Fico's words.
The Czech proposal to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats in the Schengen Area has received support from France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský told ČTK in an interview. The Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union also agrees with it, although unanimous support has not yet been reached.
For more than a year, Czechia has been promoting the proposal to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats, of whom there are between two and three thousand in Europe, including service personnel and family members. For diplomatic and tactical reasons, Mr. Lipavský has not spoken publicly about who exactly disagrees with the proposal, so that discussions can be held behind closed doors. “I was pleased that the French Minister of Foreign Affairs supported the proposal in his speech at the council meeting," the minister commented.
Ludvík Klema, director of Prague City Police (MPP), plans to improve the mental health of serving officers by putting in place a system that would combine regular training with individual consultations. According to Mr. Klema, poor law enforcement on the streets is demotivating, and some officers are leaving the service because they cannot withstand the extreme psychological pressure that the job puts on them.
"Not everyone can handle being cursed at by people every day. Society has reached a point where ordinary people take out their frustration on officers. Moreover, officers in Prague are often the first to be called to various accidents and disasters," Mr. Klema commented. The MPP already employs psychologists, but in his view, there are not enough of them. He would therefore hire more experts and introduce regular mandatory courses.
A new system for assessing the threat of terrorism in Czechia is due to have four levels, from low to critical, according to a proposal that will be discussed by the government next Wednesday. It will replace the current system, which includes a zero level for an ideal state and three levels of threat. The Ministry of the Interior has previously stated that the changes are not a response to the worsening security situation or current threats, but are an update of the system for today's security conditions.
The government will also decide on whether to apply the second level of threat in Czechia, marked with the letter B, until the end of 2025. According to the document, this is defined as a state in which there is no known specific threat of terrorist activities on Czech territory, but a significantly deteriorated international situation may significantly affect the security situation.
On Saturday, nearly ninety hardcore climbers set off for Lysá Hora, the highest peak of the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy mountain range. They want to set a Czech record and possibly a world record for the number of people on a mass hike in the ‘hardcore style’, with minimal clothing and equipment. They began in the village of Ostravice in the Frýdek-Místek region, and about a tenth of the participants are women.
“This hardcore climb to Lysá Hora is about the largest number of people hiking together half-naked. Our goal is to set a Czech and world record, because nothing like this has been recorded anywhere, so we want to start it this way," Dominik Luks, the organiser, told ČTK.
Czech tennis players have advanced to the second phase of the Davis Cup, following a victory over South Korea in Saturday's qualifier doubles match for Tomáš Macháč and Jakub Menšík, who defeated Nam Ji-sung and Chung Yun-seong 6:3, 6:1 on the hard-surface court in Ostrava. The Czech team under debuting captain Tomáš Berdych won 4:0 in matches.
In the next round, the Czechs will play the USA team, who defeated Taiwan 4:0 in matches. The match will take place in September in the USA. The Czech representatives have advanced from the Davis Cup qualification for the third time in a row; last year they defeated Israel in Vendryně, and the previous year they succeeded in Portugal.
Sunday’s weather will be cloudy to overcast, with fog in places. Highest temperatures will be from 1 to 5°C, and in areas over 1000m around -2°C.
Czechast speaks to Jakub Majer, a Czech businessman and activists: why is it not a good idea to have a new Nationa Park stone's throw from Prague?
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