WWII bomb found in Brno city center, and a stormy weekend ahead

Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová and her Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak signed a bilateral cooperation deal for defense today. In December 2020, the document was approved by the previous government of Andrej Babiš. The official signing of the pact took place on the occasion of a joint meeting of the Czech and Polish governments. The pact will replace a previous one from 1996 that was only concluded on the ministerial level, while the new one is an intergovernmental agreement.

The Czech and Polish PMs, Petr Fiala and Mateusz Morawiecki, agreed in Prague today to jointly request further EU money for tackling migration from Ukraine. Fiala said that the EU's repeatedly proclaimed solidarity must be implemented in practice through concrete instruments that would enable financing aid to Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Poland and Czechia. The money to be requested will be "new money," not changes in the use of money within the so far agreed-upon programs. It may help host countries cope with the costs of healthcare, education, and other areas, Fiala said.

Archaeologists found an aerial bomb from World War II during at a building site in Nové Sady street in the center of Brno today. Officials evacuated surrounding buildings with offices and flats after 4 pm and restricted traffic, the police tweeted. Police bomb disposal experts deactivated the bomb before 6 pm and then transported it to a safe location for disposal. Hundreds of people were evacuated there, a police spokesman said and the street was closed to pedestrians and drivers. The archeological site where the bomb was found is situated in a building dubbed "Little America" near the railway station. A new multipurpose building is planned for the area.

The sixth case of monkeypox was confirmed in Prague. According to hygienists, the virus was detected in a 34-year-old foreigner from an EU country who has a permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic. After an examination in the hospital, he is in home isolation. Epidemiological tracing efforts are currently ongoing, said a spokesman for the capital's Hygiene Station of the new case.

New Hungarian President Katalin Novak will visit the Czech Republic next week and on Tuesday, she will be received by her Czech counterpart Miloš Zeman, director of the Presidential Office foreign department, Rudolf Jindrak, told reporters Thursday. Novak is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Petr Fiala. The Czech Republic will be the third country visited by Novak during her official post. The Hungarian parliament elected Novak as the first woman in the post of Hungarian president on March 10. She took up the role on May 10. Novak has a reputation as a loyal follower of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Weekend weather in the Czech Republic will be warm with afternoon highs between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius. But warm temps will be accompanied by cloudy skies and rain. High temperatures together with increased humidity will make for a muggy weekend, particularly on Saturday, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said in its weekend forecast. There's a risk of thunderstorms, accompanied by gusts of wind for the whole of the Czech Republic from 8 pm today until Saturday at 7 am.

If Croatia adopts the euro next year, an unfavorable exchange rate could discourage some travelers from going to Croatia, travel industry experts told the Czech News Agency. The European Commission announced this week that Croatia meets all the necessary criteria to become the twentieth member of the eurozone in January. Croatia is one of the most visited summer destinations for Czech tourists. According to the Croatian Tourist Board, 775,000 Czechs visited last year, making them the fifth-largest group of foreign tourists. Germany, followed by Slovenia, Poland, and Austria comprise the top five.

The opposition ANO movement says that the one-off bonus CZK 5,000 for families with an income of up to CZK 1 million per child, as approved by the government yesterday, is insufficient. Families should receive it every month until the end of the year and it should also apply to students up to the age of 26, ANO chairman Andrej Babiš said. They also want to clarify the conditions for joint custody and for proving income, ANO said on Facebook. The movement will not agree to the quick passage of the proposal so that they can try to add their amendments.

Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib and Prime Minister Petr Fiala will meet due to the refugee crisis on June 17, two days after Prague closes the Regional Assistance Center for Ukrainian Refugees in Vysočany. The mayor called for the meeting due to the city’s lack of accommodation capacity. He is demanding a redistribution of refugees to less busy regions. Hřib has been criticizing the government for several weeks for failing to set up a refugee redistribution system.  

Over 30 mayors and representatives of municipalities sent an open letter to Prime Minister Petr Fiala, asking him to halt the process of making a national park in the Křivoklát area in Central Bohemia because some documentation is missing, news server České noviny reported. Before the procedure starts, the mayors want to know why the current protection scheme that lists Krivoklat as a protected landscape area is insufficient. According to the Environment Ministry, the declaration process should be launched on June 9. Currently, the Czech Republic has four national parks: Krkonoše, Šumava, Bohemian Switzerland, and Podyji.

An exhibition of artwork from the Museum of Roma Culture called "The Road is Open" will start in the Ethnographic Museum in Prague's Kinský Garden on Friday, highlighting both the Brno-seated museum and the planned Roma and Sinti Center, which is to open in Prague-Dejvice next year. Visitors can see painted plates, woodcuts, handmade music instruments, and statuettes made of beer bottle caps. The exhibition runs through May 31, 2024. The Dejvice center will focus on the Roma and Sinti Holocaust and the two ethnic groups' material and spiritual culture.  

The launch of Czech-based lottery company Allwyn (formerly Sazka Group) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has been postponed. According to the current presentation for investors, it will take place in the third quarter of 2022 at the earliest. As part of the launch, Czech billionaire Karel Komárek's company Allwyn Entertainment would merge with the American special-purpose acquisition company Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp, which is already trading on the NYSE. Komárek estimates the market capitalization of his company after entering the NYSE at CZK 187 billion to CZK 196 billion.

Ex-PM and opposition ANO chairman Andrej Babiš has asked the court for a preliminary hearing in the case of a CZK 50 million EU subsidy for the Čapí hnízdo (Stork Nest) farm and conference center, news server Seznam Zprávy reported. Babiš and with his former adviser Jana Nagyová are charged with subsidy fraud and harming EU financial interests. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison. A preliminary hearing is usually held behind closed doors. After the hearing, a court can halt or interrupt criminal prosecution, pass the case to another body, return it to the public prosecutor for more investigation, or order a trial.