Czech morning news in brief: Top headlines for August 26, 2021

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Prague on Wednesday afternoon, before heading to the summer residence of President Miloš Zeman in Lány. On Thursday, Steinmeier will meet the speakers of both chambers of parliament, before holding talks with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Friday. He will also visit Strahov Monastery, and will meet representatives of German companies at the nation’s Embassy. His visit will also commemorate the Czechoslovak paratroopers who died in Operation Anthropoid, the mission to assassinate Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich during the Second World War. Steinmeier will become the first German President to visit the Orthodox church of St Cyril and St Methodius in Prague, where the paratroopers were killed or committed suicide after being captured by the Nazis.

The closure of the Mělník coal-fired power plant, the largest source of district heating in the Czech Republic, is prompting the ČEZ Group to accelerate the transitioning its heat production business from coal-fired to low-carbon technologies. The three coal-fired units at Mělník, which currently provide heat for more than 250,000 households, will be closed by 2030. They will be replaced with low-carbon heat generators powered by gas, biomass and other modern technologies. ČEZ will install energy-efficient steam gas generators, hydrogen combustion and production systems, biomass boilers, heat pumps, and waste-to-energy recovery equipment at the three ex-coal units. By 2030, ČEZ plans to produce only 12.5 percent of its total electricity from coal. The Mělník plant provides 300 full-time jobs and more than 1,000 temporary jobs.

A Czech man has died while competing in the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc trail-running marathon. The man fell while descending into the Pralignan pass on the French side of Mont Blanc and died of his injuries, the organizers of the race announced. A rescue team was sent and immediately transported the man to hospital after his fall, but his life could not be saved. French media have reported that the man was 35 years old. He fell on the 62nd kilometer of the 145-km trail connecting the Italian Aosta Valley and the French Upper Savoy region. The trail is a regular part of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc marathon, around the highest mountain in the Alps. The race was suspended following the incident.

The Czech Senate has suggested listing June 26, the anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia in 1991, as a national holiday. The proposal came on the 30th anniversary of the departure of occupying Soviet troops following the fall of communism. The proposal will be forwarded to the Senate human rights committee and the law and constitution committee. The proposal has been signed by 46 out of the 80 senators. On June 26, 1991, former President and Commander-in-Chief Václav Havel issued an order for Soviet troops to withdraw from Czechoslovak territory. The order constituted a renewal of Czechoslovak sovereignty and responsibility, senators said. For the proposal to be confirmed, the Chamber of Deputies needs to approve it, which is unlikely to happen before the elections in October.

A manufacturing risk index compiled by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield has ranked the Czech Republic as Europe’s most attractive manufacturing destination, and the fifth most attractive destination in the world. The country scored highly in all assessed areas, including operating costs, cost of labor, level of political and economic risk, and ability to bounce back after the Covid crisis. Nonetheless, the Czech Republic was pipped to fourth place by Canada this year due to an increase in labor costs across Central and Eastern Europe. Nonetheless, Lithuania and Poland also featured in the top ten, in seventh and tenth place respectively. The Czech Republic has higher labor costs than other European destinations such as Lithuania, Bulgaria and Romania, according to the index.