Prague Monitor

Prague Daily Monitor The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMU) warned citizens to be aware of the risks posed by strong winds and dry, warm temperatures and their ability to cause forest fires. Winds with gusts of up to 70km/h are expected on Tuesday afternoon and evening. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Czech Television reports that electricity prices are at the highest they have been in the last seven years and are expected to continue rising. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Fire fighters doused a potentially life-threating forest fire on the outskirts of Pilsen, on Monday evening. Novinky.cz reports that the fire spread to the northern edge of Pilsen, behind the Lochotín housing estate towards Krkavec Hill. read more

Prague Daily Monitor MP Dominik Feri (TOP 09) who is the youngest parliamentarian in the history of the Czech Republic, was racially attacked by two unidentified men, in the village of Borsice, near Uherske Hradiste, in Moravia, on Sunday afternoon. read more

Prague Daily Monitor The European Commission announced in a press release on Wednesday, that it had approved under the EU Merger Regulation, Liberty House Group's purchases of several ArcelorMittal steel plants, sold under commitments made by ArcelorMittal in order to buy Ilva. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomas Petříček (ČSSD) will travel to Bratislava on Thursday, April 18th, for a meeting of Visegrad 4 Foreign Ministers with the French Foreign Minister. read more

Prague Daily Monitor The Civic Democrats finally managed to remove former ODS member Václav Klaus Jr. as the Chairman of the Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of the Chamber of Deputies, on Wednesday. He will be replaced by ODS member Karel Krejza. read more

Prague Daily Monitor The average mortgage rate fell in March 2019 to 2.9%, from 2.99%, in February 2019. According to Czech Television, based on data released by Fincentra Hypoindex, this is the biggest monthly fall, since March 2015. The lowest recorded rate was 1.77% in December 2016, and the figure has consistently risen since then. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Meteorologists from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute are expecting a record dry April and a drought, if it doesn't rain significantly in the second half of the month. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc arrived in Prague, for an official visit. Nguyen was met at the airport by Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Tlapa, on Tuesday afternoon. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Vit Rakusan, the new leader of STAN, the party of mayors and independents, will resign his position as Mayor of Kolin, on June 24th, according to information he posted on his Facebook page. Rakusan will be replaced as Mayor, by his party colleague and current Deputy Mayor Michael Kaspar, who confirmed the news. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Jakub Landovský (ČSSD), who is currently a Deputy Defence Minister, will shortly be appointed the new Czech Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), in Brussels. read more

Prague Daily Monitor The Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be in Prague, on an official visit from April 16th to 18th. According to Vlada.cz, Nguyen will meet with Prime Minister Andre Babis (ANO) on the morning of Wednesday April 17th, to discuss the strengthening of economic relations between the two nations, at Straka Academy, Babis’ office. read more

Prague Daily Monitor President Miloš Zeman met with future Transport Minister Vladimír Kremlík and future Industry Minister Karel Havlíček, at the Lány Chateau, on Monday. Both were nominated by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), last week, to replace Dan Ťok and Marta Nováková, from his party, as ministers. read more

Prague Daily Monitor Outgoing Transport Minister Dan Ťok (ANO) will not only finish his term as minister at the end of April, but also resigned from the Chamber of Deputies, as he gave up his responsibilities as an MP, on Monday. read more