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☆ Czech cyber watchdog warns against using TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE, March 8 (Reuters) - The Czech cyber security watchdog warned on Wednesday against using TikTok, joining a growing number of Western agencies alleging the Chinese-owned social media app poses a security risk. The NUKIB agency recommended that TikTok should not be installed on phones whose users access critical and other significant infrastructure. NUKIB also recommended politicians and officials to avoid using TikTok, and said the wider public should consider whether to use the app as well, especially for sharing content. ByteDance has said previously that concerns about the app are fuelled by misinformation, and has denied using it for spying. The European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU Council have banned TikTok from staff phones.

☆ Slovak prime minister starts new pro-Western party for Sept election
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 7 (Reuters) - Slovak caretaker Prime Minister Eduard Heger launched a new pro-Western, liberal centrist party named the Democrats on Tuesday to run in a September election called after his coalition fell from power last year. Heger said pro-Western democratic values and aid to neighbouring Ukraine were the cornerstones of his agenda. Heger said he would not cooperate with far-right nationalists, like Fico's Smer (Direction) nor the Hlas (Voice) party, which itself split from Smer on a more pro-Western platform and now leads opinion polls. Four ministers from the current government, including Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad, have joined Heger's new outfit. Under Heger's leadership, Slovakia shipped military equipment to Ukraine including the S-300 air defence system, and allowed hundreds of thousands refugees across the border after Russia's invasion of Ukraine started in February 2024.

☆ Czech company sees boom in market for fake tanks, HIMARS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A worker prepares an inflatable decoy of a military vehicle, which is used to confuse enemy attacks, during a media presentation in Decin, Czech Republic, March 6, 2023. The company has added HIMARS to its fleet of over 30 types of inflatable real-size decoys it sells to customers worldwide, Chief Executive Vojtech Fresser said on Monday. "I can imagine that if we want to support a partner country which is in trouble, we will send them Inflatech inflatable decoys and they are already there or certainly will be," he said. The Czech Defence Ministry, which helps organise Czech military supplies to Ukraine, was not immediately available for comment. The HIMARS inflatable top, without the heat generator and compressor equipment, weighs 43 kg, Fresser told reporters at the company's factory in the northern Czech city of Decin.

☆ Czechs have sent 89 tanks, hundreds of pieces of heavy machinery to Ukraine -PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic has supplied hundreds of pieces of heavy military equipment to Ukraine over the past year, including 89 tanks, and will continue supporting efforts to aid Kyiv, the country's prime minister said on Wednesday. The Czech Republic has been one of Kyiv's earliest and strongest backers. The U.S. embassy in Prague last week said the United States would provide $200 million to the Czech Republic for military upgrades and replacement of equipment sent to Ukraine. The Czech Republic has also agreed to repair Ukraine's armoured vehicles as part of it help to the country. "We will continue to support Ukraine's efforts to this end, as long as necessary," the countries' statement said.

☆ Czech group PPF takes 9.1% stake in Germany's ProSiebensat.1
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE/BERLIN, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Czech investment group PPF has taken a 9.1% stake in ProSiebensat.1 (PSMGn.DE), PPF said on Tuesday, becoming the German broadcaster's second-largest investor behind Italy's MFE-MediaforEurope (MFEB.MI). "PPF believes the digital transformation of ProSieben will create value for all shareholders," privately-owned PPF said in a statement. "PPF is looking forward to liaising with the management and supervisory board of ProSieben in this digitalization process." The group, which also owns the CME group that operates dozens of channels in six central and east European markets, is now controlled by Kellner's widow, Renata Kellnerova. Reporting by Jan Lopatka, Klaus Lauer and Christoph Steitz Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Olympics row deepens as 35 countries demand ban for Russia and Belarus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

With war raging in Ukraine, the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Poland had called on international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics. "At the same time, we know that 70 percent of Russian athletes are soldiers. He said that most participants had been in favour of an absolute exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The IOC has opened the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals. While Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of host city Paris, has said Russian athletes should not take part, Paris 2024 organisers have said they will abide by the IOC's decision on the issue.

☆ Italy wants more money for Africa to curb arrivals in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

It also sought a new "Pact for Africa" to help investment, education, training, business and jobs around the world's poorest continent. The summit has been convened after Austria and the Netherlands led complaints about increasing irregular arrivals. The bloc's border agency Frontex reported 330,000 irregular border crossings last year, the highest since 2016 as global mobility restarted following the COVID pandemic. When they meet in Brussels, EU leaders will also discuss NGO search-and-rescue operations in the sea after Meloni already sought to limit such activity through a national decree. EU countries remain bitterly divided over how to provide for those who win asylum.

☆ Czech parliament chief assures Taiwan of her support after outcry in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks with Czech President-elect Petr Pavel on a conference call in Taipei, Taiwan January 30, 2023 in this handout picture. Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERSPRAGUE, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Czech lower house of parliament speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova on Wednesday assured Taiwan of her country's support for partner states who respect human rights and liberal democracy, ahead of a visit to Taipei planned for March. The Czechs have been intensifying relations with the self-ruled island, which giant neighbour China claims as its own, and President-elect Petr Pavel spoke with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen on Monday, drawing a sharp rebuke from Beijing. "I assured the minister that systematic support of partners who respect human rights and the principles of liberal democracy belongs among priorities of our parliamentary diplomacy," she said in a statement issued through her spokesman. Most countries avoid high-level public interactions with Taiwan and its president, not wishing to provoke China, the world's second largest economy.

[1/9] Czech presidential candidate Petr Pavel and his wife Eva Pavlova react at his headquarters, after results are announced for the country's presidential election, in Prague, Czech Republic January 28, 2023. Pavel, a 61-year-old retired general running for office for the first time, won 58.3% of the vote with all voting districts reporting final results, defeating billionaire ex-premier Andrej Babis, a dominant but polarising force in Czech politics for a decade. Pavel has also fully backed continued support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion. Babis, 68, a combative business magnate who heads the biggest opposition party in parliament, had attacked Pavel as the government's candidate. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy congratulated Pavel on his election on Twitter and said he looked forward to close cooperation.

☆ Petr Pavel: who is the ex-army chief leading Czech presidential election race?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Polls make the bearded retired general, 61, the favourite to win a run-off vote on Friday and Saturday against billionaire ex-prime minister Andrej Babis, 68. "We got into several tense situations and he always managed them with deliberation and calm," retired Czech general Ales Opata, who served in Croatia and after with Pavel, told Reuters. He lead the Czech general staff from 2012, during Czech involvement in operations in Afghanistan, and in 2015 became NATO's military committee chair, an advisory position of the alliance's secretary-general. Jiri Sedivy, chief executive of the European Defence Agency and former Czech ambassador to NATO, said Pavel was a decision-maker who could take responsibility. After Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Pavel represented NATO in a 2017 meeting with Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

☆ Former NATO general, ex-prime minister seen leading Czech presidential election
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Czech presidential candidate and former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and Czech Army General Petr Pavel casts his ballot during the country's direct presidential election in the village of Cernoucek, Czech Republic, January 13, 2023. The post does not carry executive authority but has significant powers in appointing prime ministers, central bank chiefs and nominating judges for the constitutional court. Pavel, 61, and Nerudova, 44, are strongly pro-Western and support further military aid for Ukraine as well as adoption of the euro. They would not have decision-making power in those affairs but could set the agenda in public and political consultations. Babis has also spoken against more Czech military aid for Ukraine.

☆ Retired general, ex-PM lead the field in Czech presidential election
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] Presidential candidate and former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and Czech Army General Petr Pavel arrives at a rock club to meet his supporters, ahead of a direct presidential election that will start on January 13, in Prague, Czech Republic, January 9, 2023. Retired General Petr Pavel, 61, running as an independent, led two out of four final polls. Former prime minister Andrej Babis, 68, a billionaire heading the biggest opposition party in parliament was ahead in the other two. While there are eight candidates, only Pavel, Babis and economics professor Danuse Nerudova, 44, have a chance of making it to the second round, polls show. There pollsters give Pavel and edge, expecting him to gather more votes from other candidates than Babis.

☆ Czech firm Net4Gas missing latest payments from Gazprom
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Net4Gas sro FollowGazprom PAO FollowPRAGUE, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Czech natural gas transmission system operator Net4Gas (N4G) has not received the latest monthly contracted payments from Russia's Gazprom, a government minister said. Net4Gas had been in the past shipping Russian gas from Germany through the Czech Republic to Slovakia and on to Austria. In October, Fitch Ratings agency affirmed N4G at 'BB+' and said its base scenario assumed "full or near-complete shut-off of Russian pipeline gas to Europe and no payments from Gazprom." The Czech Republic has scrambled to get alternative supplies through liquefied natural gas shipments and flows from Norway and elsewhere. Flows between Slovakia and the Czech Republic have been running in both directions depending on demand.

President Caputova will dismiss the cabinet but ask it to stay on until she at some point appoints a new one. SaS joined a leftist opposition party in bringing the no-confidence vote, accusing the government of not helping people cope with the higher energy costs. The political clash has prevented support for Heger's 2023 budget plan, which includes spending to offset energy prices. Sulik told a televised briefing SaS wanted to back the creation of a new government and did not support calling early elections. The poll-leading opposition party Hlas, though, called early elections the only option.

☆ EU reviews Hungary's eligibility for sorely needed aid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At stake is 13.3 billion euros ($14.1 billion) that had been earmarked from the EU's joint coffers for Hungary but blocked over worries around corruption and poor judicial independence. International watchdogs say Orban has long channelled EU funds to associates to entrench himself in power. He has cultivated close ties with Moscow and repeatedly stalled EU sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine. But with Hungary's forint currency down 11% versus the euro this year, Orban has sought to strike a deal with the Commission, creating an anti-graft agency to help unlock the sorely needed EU funds. The Commission has also been withholding its approval of some 5.8 billion euros for Hungary from an EU fund set up to help countries recover from the COVID pandemic.

The EU has blocked the funds over worries around corruption and poor judicial independence in Hungary, which in turn vetoed the EU loan to Kyiv and a proposal for a global corporate tax. "I note the efforts made so far by Hungary to address several of the remedial measures," EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn wrote in a letter. Orban, in power since 2010, has cultivated close ties with Moscow and repeatedly stalled EU sanctions against Russia. International watchdogs say Orban has long channelled EU funds to associates to entrench himself in power. It has also been withholding approval of some 5.8 billion euros for Hungary from an EU fund set up to help countries recover from the COVID pandemic, citing insufficient independence of courts from politicians.

☆ Three companies vie to build new Czech nuclear plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Czech Republic has been a strong backer of nuclear energy as a carbon-free power source for the future, unlike European Union neighbours Germany and Austria. CEZ plans to build three more nuclear units - on top of the one now planned - at its Dukovany and Temelin nuclear sites, as the country diversifies away from coal. It is also planning to build smaller modular nuclear power plants. Poland picked Westinghouse last month to build its first nuclear power plant, and also agreed to cooperate with South Korea on potential further units. In 2020, the cost of the project - not including financing and inflation - was estimated at 6 billion euros ($6.2 billion).

☆ Prague Christmas market returns after COVID but with fewer lights
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] A Christmas tree is illuminated as the traditional Christmas market opens at the Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic, November 26, 2022. REUTERS/David W CernyPRAGUE, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Thousands of people poured into Prague's medieval Old Town Square at the weekend for the lighting of a 25-metre (80-foot) Christmas tree and the reopening of the annual market after a two-year COVID-19 shutdown, but the energy crisis meant fewer lights than usual. The city has decided to not turn the lights on all day long as in the past but only from 4 p.m. until midnight. "We don't want to take away from people the festive atmosphere of Christmas and New Year ... but we are aware that energy should not be wasted." Reporting by Jiri Skacel Writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Czech pubs tap tech in bid to save energy costs on beer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Czech pubs are turning to technology to reduce the cost of putting glasses of beer on the bar for thirsty locals. With Czechs among the biggest beer drinkers in the world, brewer Plzensky Prazdroj plans to install sensors which will collect data on beer flow, as well as tube and tap temperatures. Plzensky Prazdroj hopes that by making adjustments its pubs will save up to 30% of the energy needed for cooling and tapping their beer, a goal made more pressing by rising energy costs. The system uses Internet of Drinks solutions by start-up firm Smart Technology, which uses ultrasound metering and provides information on the amount of beer tapped, sanitation intervals and the state of the cooling system. At Prague's Katr pub, where the system is already in use, manager Michal Reznicek is hoping for an impact on rising costs, which are impacting beer, food and staff.

☆ NATO holds emergency meeting on Poland blast, discusses air defence
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - NATO ambassadors held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss a missile that hit Poland close to the Ukrainian border, with at least two alliance members calling for steps to strengthen air defence on the military alliance's eastern wing. It was unclear whether that would still be the case, after a source said Biden told G7 and NATO partners that the missile blast was caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile. The emergency NATO ambassadors' meeting was in any case likely to discuss air defence, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said NATO should swiftly deploy more air defences on the Polish-Ukrainian border and the rest of the alliance's eastern flank. The explosion near the Ukrainian border came as Russia unleashed a wave of missiles targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, attacks that Kyiv said were the heaviest in nearly nine months of war.

BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Oil supply to parts of Eastern and Central Europe via a section of the Druzhba pipeline has been temporarily suspended, according to oil pipeline operators in Hungary and Slovakia. The Druzhba pipeline network originates in Russia and splits in Belarus into Ukraine, where it splits again, supplying several countries in Eastern and Central Europe that depend on that oil, including refineries in landlocked Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Czech pipeline operator MERO has not observed disruptions so far in the flow of oil through the Druzhba line, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Polish pipeline operator PERN said late on Tuesday that oil is flowing normally via the Polish section of the line. The Druzhba pipeline network originates in Russia and extends into Eastern and Central Europe.

☆ Czech proposed power revenue cap to bring much higher revenue than expected, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Industry Ministry has proposed caps ranging from 70 euros per megawatt/hour of electricity made at nuclear power plants to 230 euros for power made at some lignite plants. "As proposed, it will bring much higher revenue than 15 billion," Stanjura told reporters. Overall, he said the ministry's forecast of raising 100 billion crowns from the windfall tax and the revenue caps next year was conservative and final takings may be higher, he said. The company expected to be most affected by the revenue caps and the windfall tax is the majority state-owned electricity producer CEZ (CEZP.PR). The Czech revenue cap proposal goes beyond the EU agreement by suggesting validity from Dec. 1 this year until the end of 2023, while the EU agreement only runs until June 30, 2023.

[1/2] A destroyed Russian T-72 tank is seen near a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Mykolaiv region, Ukraine October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The United States on Friday announced an additional $400 million in military aid to Ukraine, including refurbishing T-72 tanks and missiles for HAWK air defense systems for Kyiv. Deputy Czech Defense Minister Tomas Kopecny told Reuters that in total 90 tanks from third parties and private stocks would be modernized. In October, Reuters first wrote about the initiative to furnish HAWK interceptor missiles to Ukraine. The Army replaced it with the MIM-104 Patriot, and the Marines shifted entirely to using smaller, more portable air defense systems.

☆ EU asks U.S. for same treatment as Canada and Mexico in electric vehicles sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yves HermanPRAGUE (Reuters) -The European Union asked the United States on Monday to treat EU electric vehicles, batteries and sustainable energy equipment sold in the United States the same as those from Canada and Mexico, Czech trade minister Jozef Sikela said. The 27-nation EU has been complaining the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act effectively discriminates against EU producers because it offers tax breaks to consumers on such goods made in North America, but not for those made in the EU. The EU argues that, unlike the United States, it offers the same tax breaks for EU-made and U.S.-made goods in these sectors. The issue is to be resolved by a special task force, which will meet for the first time this week, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said.

☆ CEZ seeks higher capacity at Dutch LNG terminal, wants damages from Gazprom
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Czech power utility CEZ is in talks to raise the capacity it has booked at a new Dutch liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, Chief Executive Daniel Benes said on Czech Television on Sunday. Benes said CEZ would also seek damages from Russia's Gazprom for failing to meet its contract obligations in gas supplies. CEZ has booked 3 billion cubic metres per year in LNG import capacity - about a third of Czech annual consumption -- at the new Dutch LNG terminal at Eemshaven, and has started receiving first shipments through there. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"We are in talks on an increase in the Netherlands," Benes said. He said CEZ would seek damages, which he said in the order of hundreds of millions to low single billions of crowns, through arbitration.

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