Daily news summary

Czech foreign minister welcomes fall of last IS enclave in Syria

Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček has welcomed the news that the last IS enclave in Baghuz, eastern Syria, has been taken.

He added however that the fight against international terrorism was not definitively over and said the Czech Republic was ready to cooperate with its allies to help end the conflict in Syria by all the means at its disposal.

The Czech Republic is the only EU member state that operates an embassy in Syria where it also represents the interests of the US.

Zeman to meet with Slovak presidential candidate Šefčovič

Czech President Miloš Zeman is to receive Slovak presidential candidate, Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič at Lany chateau on Sunday.

The news was confirmed by the Czech president’s chancellor, Vratislav Mynář, who told Denik N that the meeting was taking place at the request of Mr. Šefčovič.

The meeting will take place less than a week before the second round of presidential elections in Slovakia in which Šefčovič faces lawyer Zuzana Čaputova.

The president’s spokesman Jiří Ovčáček refused to comment on media speculation that Mr. Zeman would officially support Mr. Šefčovič in the run-off, saying that the Czech president would receive Mrs. Čaputová as well, were she to request a meeting.

Political scientists: Brexit will strengthen pro-federalist forces in EU

Britain’s departure from the EU will boost the position of France and Germany, according to Czech political scientists approached by the CTK news agency.

Petr Kaniok from Masaryk University in Brno said Great Britain had slowed the pace of European integration, acting as a break to federalist tendencies within the EU.

Political analyst Kryštof Kruliš agrees, saying Brexit will open the way for France to push through its federalist vision faster and more effectively.

In this respect the Czech Republic is seen as losing an important ally in the EU.

Czech Lion Awards to be presented at Rudolfinum

The Czech Republic's main film awards, the Czech Lions, are due to be presented at a gala-ceremony at Prague's Rudolfinum concert hall on Saturday night. The awards, organized by the Czech Film and Television Academy, are being presented for the 26th time.

Ondřej Trojan’s Toman has been nominated in 13 categories, The Hastrman, directed by Ondřej Havelka, has 10 nominations, as does Winter Flies by Olmo Omerzu. Jan Palach by Robert Sedláček is in the running in eight categories.

Close to half of Czechs happy with their living standard

The number of Czechs who are happy with the economic situation in the country and their own living standard has reached 49 percent, according to the results of a poll carried out by the CVVM agency.

Thirty-six percent of respondents said they were neither satisfied, nor dissatisfied, while 13 percent described their living standard as poor.

The number of people who are happy with their living standard grew from 45 to 49 percent as compared to 2018.

Ester Ledecká wins Crystal Globe at Snowboard World Cup in Winterberg

Snowboarder Ester Ledecká won the Crystal Globe at the World Cup in Winterberg, Germany, on Saturday. The Czech snowboard queen retained first place in the overall ranking thanks to her fifth position in the parallel slalom. She clinched a record-setting fourth-straight parallel overall title on the day of her 24th birthday.

Weather forecast

Sunday should be partly cloudy to overcast with scattered showers and day temperatures between 10 and 14 degrees Celsius.