Czech news in brief for June 28: Friday's top headlines

The 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival officially starts today, running until July 6. Actor and director Viggo Mortensen will feature as a guest at the opening ceremony, due to take place this evening. Mortensen, known for his role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, will receive the Karlovy Vary IFF President's Award and present his film Until the End of the World. The festival will showcase around 200 films from all over the globe.

The Children of the Earth non-governmental organization has awarded Štěpán Křeček, an economist and member of Prime Minister Petr Fiala's advisory council, the Green Pearl mock prize for his statement that buildings should replace fields as they are more profitable. The NGO cited Křeček's interview with the Seznam Zprávy media outlet in August where he stated: "We can't be an open-air museum that will always keep some fields here that basically don't bear anything."

The Chamber of Deputies today approved a bill to annually commemorate samizdat, the publication of self-published books and newspapers in totalitarian regimes, on Oct. 12, starting in 2025. This date was chosen to honor the 92 Czech and Slovak samizdat publishers who protested the imprisonment of Christian activist Ivan Polanský on Oct. 12, 1988. The bill aims to recognize the bravery of those who fought for freedom during the communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1989.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced this afternoon that Czechia and Ukraine will sign a security agreement at the European Political Community summit in London on July 18. As agreed upon by Fiala and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this agreement will be finalized before the NATO summit in Washington in July. The security guarantees cover several areas, including the provision of additional military assistance, in particular ammunition and air defense. So far, Ukraine has signed 19 bilateral agreements. 

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met at the EU summit in Brussels Thursday. They discussed bilateral relations, security, and economic cooperation. Zelenskyy updated Fiala on the situation on the frontline. He also thanked the Czech Republic for their support and shared a video of the meeting on social media. Fiala wrote on social media that they discussed the Swiss peace conference, the upcoming NATO summit, and EU-Ukraine relations. 

A strong storm that hit Prague Thursday afternoon caused flooding in the Těšnov and u Bulharu underpasses and near the Čechův most, as well as the vestibule of the Můstek metro station on Wenceslas Square. The fire department reported dealing with weather-related incidents, including fallen branches and flooded basements and roads. Heavy rain also flooded businesses and caused hail in some areas. Some trams had to take detours due to impassable tracks. 

Today marks the end of the school year, with approximately 1.49 million primary and secondary school students receiving their final report cards and beginning their summer holidays. Education Minister Mikuláš Bek will participate in a ceremony at an elementary school in Ořechov, handing out report cards to ninth graders. President Petr Pavel will not be attending. Over 1 million children attend elementary schools, with nearly 106,000 ninth graders receiving their final report cards. There are 4,276 elementary schools and approximately 1,300 secondary schools in the Czech Republic.

According to police spokesperson Lucie Šmoldasová, a group of 14 people, including a doctor, were arrested for allegedly selling anabolic steroids, cocaine, and other drugs in gyms across the Czech Republic for millions of crowns. The group, active since at least the beginning of 2021, also sold fake drugs with a hormonal effect. Some members had ties to power sports and used gym environments to sell to end users. The group later expanded to selling mephedrone, cocaine, and methamphetamine

Several banks have recently lowered their interest rates or changed their terms for savings products due to the Czech National Bank's rate cuts. The highest interest rate of 5.58 percent is offered by Trinity bank for new clients with a deposit of CZK 250,000. Partners bank offers 5.03 percent interest, but requires five monthly card payments. VÚB Banka has a 5.45 percent interest rate without any limits or conditions, but is a branch of a Slovak bank and may deduct a 19 percent tax without a tax domicile certificate.