Ukraine update: Prague to reopen refugee center despite mayor's objections

Prague will reopen its regional assistance center for Ukrainian refugees from July 11, Mayor Zdeněk Hřib said. He added that Prague, nevertheless, will do so based on the cabinet's decision, but it lacks accommodation capacities and can provide only emergency lodging in tent camps.

"From my point of view, this is a wrong decision as it does not deal with solving the situation where the number of refugees per head is up to four times higher than in some other regions," Hřib said. Overburdened with refugees fleeing from the war-stricken Ukraine and with the city's accommodation capacities exhausted, Prague closed the refugee assistance center, located in Prague-Vysočany, in mid-June.

The signal toward Russia must be clear, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said when he arrived at the NATO summit, which continues in Madrid today with talks of the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s decision-making body. "The signal against Russia must be clear. We will keep supporting Ukraine and keep Russia from continuing in its aggressive politics," Fiala said on behalf of Czechia.

He said Czechia will also support the reinforcement of NATO’s joint budget and NATO's new strategic concept, which clearly mentions Russia as a threat. Fiala also said the big news of the summit is that Turkey would not block the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO.