Czech morning news in brief: top headlines for April 23, 2021

The Czech Republic will cap the number of Russian diplomats in Prague according to the current personnel at the Czech embassy in Moscow, said Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek. The decision takes effect today and Russia has a until the end of May to withdraw its staff, Kulhánek said. On Thursday at noon, the deadline given to Russia to return all 20 expelled Czech diplomats to the embassy in Moscow expired. After the expelled staff left, the Czech embassy in Moscow has 24 employees, including five diplomats and 19 administrative and technical workers. There are now 27 diplomats and 67 administrative and technical personnel at the Russian embassy in Prague. Kulhánek said 63 employees of the Russian embassy will need to leave Prague in order to match the staffing levels at both embassies. President Miloš Zeman is fully informed about this step and he supports it," Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said.

Slovakia has decided to expel three employees of the Russian embassy, Prime Minister Eduard Heger told reporters Thursday. They should leave the country in a week. Heger said Slovakia could not tolerate representatives of foreign diplomatic missions disrespecting rules. Heger also expressed solidarity with the Czech Republic in connection with its diplomatic dispute with Moscow which it blames for orchestrating a 2014 ammunitions warehouse explosion. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also pledged solidarity to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in conflict on a Thursday phone call. Babiš tweeted: "I informed her about the current serious situation in Czech-Russian relations. I also asked her for support both bilaterally and within the EU and NATO. She assured me that Germany is firmly standing behind us," he added. On Sunday, German ambassador to Prague Christoph Israng tweeted that Germany was siding with its Czech friends.

Air transport remains in crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic. Prague's Václav Havel Airport reported handling almost 251,000 passengers during the first quarter, which is 90 percent less year-on-year, an airport spokesperson announced this week. In the coming weeks, the situation should gradually improve slightly, with some carriers planning to resume connections. While last year passengers from Prague most often went to London or Moscow, now the most popular destination was Dubai. This was followed by Amsterdam and Egypt's Hurghada. The airport handled a total of 6,943 flights during the quarter of this year. Currently, there are regular flights of about 20 carriers to more than 30 destinations at the airport.

The weekend promises partially cloudy skies, and afternoon temperatures around 12°C with temp dropping to freezing at night. Friday should remain clear with temperatures reaching up to 14°C. On Saturday, meteorologists predict partially cloudy to almost clear skies. The lowest night temperatures should fall below the freezing point to 2 to -2°C, the highest daytime temperatures could climb to 11°C to 15°C. Sunday will see clear to partly cloud skies with daytime temperatures reaching 9°C to 13 °C. Light winds are expected throughout the weekend as well. Meteorologists expect morning frosts next Monday and Tuesday after which colder weather should ease.