Czech daily news roundup: Thursday, April 21, 2022

Year-on-year inflation in the European Union hit a record 7.8 percent in March, increasing from 6.2 percent in February. European statistical office Eurostat released the figures today. The Czech Republic has the third-highest inflation in the EU by Eurostat's calculations, at 11.9 percent. Inflation throughout the eurozone is meanwhile far above the European Central Bank's 2 percent target. The highest inflation in the EU was recorded in Lithuania, where consumer prices rose 15.6 percent year-on-year. Estonia was second with inflation of 14.8 percent. The lowest inflation was recorded in Malta, France and Portugal.

The Czech Republic and eight other countries severely affected by the Ukrainian refugee crisis will ask the European Commission for financial assistance, according to Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš. By the end of April, they will present a proposal containing 14 measures intended to address the pressing needs of each separate country. The proposal was prepared jointly by the Visegrád Four countries (Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary) together with Bulgaria, Romania and the Baltic states.

The financial market's guarantee system will start paying out compensation for institutional clients with deposits in Sberbank CZ, which has seen its banking license revoked by the Czech National Bank. Compensation for institutional clients will be paid out through the Komerční banka network from Friday. The institutional clients who can claim compensation from tomorrow are payment service institutions, small-scale payment service providers, e-money institutions, securities dealers and others.

Freedom and Direct Democracy party leader Tomio Okamura must issue a public apology to two Christian Democrat MEPs, Tomáš Zdechovský and Pavel Svoboda, for making untrue claims about them related to migrants. Okamura claimed the two Czech MEPs voted for the EU to impose sanctions on the Czech Republic to refusing to accept migrants. The head of a court panel said the statement "was clearly untrue, a lie." Okamura must post the apology on his Facebook profile within a month of the verdict taking effect.

The Czech army's deployment in Afghanistan was very food for the Czech military as soldiers were able to see the results of their training in real life. Czech ambassador to Afghanistan Jiří Baloun made the comments about the mission, saying deployment in Afghanistan also helped the army improve its logistics and planning procedures. Before becoming a diplomat, Baloun served in high posts in the Czech military. On the allies' withdrawal from Afghanistan and subsequent takeover of the country by the Taliban, Baloun said the West failed to understand the Afghan mentality.

If Sberbank appeals against the revocation of its license, the case will be heard by the Appeals Commission and then by the ČNB board. The National Bank has not yet commented on the matter. The first step towards revoking Sberbank's license were taken on Feb. 28, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. The ČNB also issued a preliminary measure to stop Sberbank handling its assets and liabilities. At the beginning of March, Sberbank announced that it was pulling out of Europe entirely.