Czech news in brief for August 24: Sunday's top headlines

Karel Čapek’s works have been translated into 58 languages, making him the most widely translated Czech author, according to the new book Atlas of Czech Literature Around the World (1817–2019). Julius Fučík follows, largely due to Notes from the Gallows, while Božena Němcová is the most translated female Czech author. Author Ondřej Vimr notes that female Czech authors have become increasingly prominent in translations since the mid-1990s.

In the latest STEM election poll, opposition party ANO would receive 32.7 percent of votes, unchanged from last week. The governing Spolu coalition rose to 21.3 percent, while SPD fell to 11 percent. STAN follows closely behind at 10.9 percent. The Pirates and the Stačilo! coalition would also pass the 5 percent threshold. The survey, conducted July 31–Aug. 19 with over 1,500 respondents, projects ANO to win 77 seats and Spolu 47 in the Czech Chamber of Deputies.

Sunday morning was the coldest of this summer in Czechia, with frost and ground-level freezing recorded mainly in western and southern Bohemia and the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said. Fourteen long-term stations set new August lows, with temperatures dropping to minus 4 degrees Celsius in Šumava and Krušné hory. Meteorologists expect another cold morning on Monday.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský urged Europe to take greater responsibility, invest in defence and act together to counter Russian aggression, speaking at the European Forum Alpbach in Austria on Saturday. He met Romanian counterpart Oana-Silvia Toiu and said both agreed on strengthening EU and NATO cooperation. Lipavský stressed that Russia must not succeed in its war on Ukraine, launched with its 2022 invasion.

Czech minimum wage will increase by CZK 1,600 crowns to CZK 22,400 gross next year, Labor Minister Marian Jurečka said on Czech Television. The rise follows a government decree linking the minimum to 43.4 percent of the average wage, projected at 51,497 crowns. About 118,000 workers, roughly 3 percent of employees, earn the minimum. Guaranteed minimum pay levels in the public sector will also rise by nearly 8 percent from January.

Five Czech tennis players will compete on the opening day of the US Open in New York. Seeded players Jakub Menšík, Jiří Lehečka and Tomáš Macháč begin their first-round matches alongside Markéta Vondroušová and qualifier Tereza Valentová. Menšík, seeded 16th, faces Chile’s Nicolás Jarry. Valentová debuts against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti, Macháč meets Italy’s Luca Nardi, Lehečka plays Croatia’s Borna Ćorić, and Vondroušová faces Russian qualifier Oksana Selekhmeteva.

A Belarusian driver accused of smuggling 30 Syrian migrants through Czechia, one of whom suffocated, will stand trial on September 10 at the Central Bohemian Regional Court. Police stopped his truck near Veltrusy in September 2024, finding passengers in cramped, airless conditions. A 30-year-old woman died despite paramedics’ efforts. The driver, in custody since, faces five to 12 years in prison if convicted.

Opposition party ANO outlined its election priorities Friday, vowing to block EU emission allowances for households and transport while pledging an average monthly teacher salary of CZK 75,000 crowns by 2029. The party, led by ex-PM Andrej Babiš, also promises tax cuts, state support for housing, stricter migration rules, and higher pay for security forces. ANO will present its full manifesto on Sept. 4 at a campaign launch in Ostrava.

STAN leader Vít Rakušan and Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) will meet Tuesday in Prague to reaffirm post-election cooperation without Andrej Babiš’s ANO party. Pirate leader Zdeněk Hřib may also attend after earlier questioning the point of a closed meeting. The parties, once in government together, want to rule out working with ANO ahead of October elections, where polls currently show Babiš’s party leading.

More than 1,000 Christians gathered Saturday for the Three Nations Pilgrimage in Hrcava, on the Czech-Polish-Slovak border. Pilgrims walked in processions from all three countries before a mass on a mountain meadow, celebrated mainly in Slovak. Bishop Martin David of Ostrava-Opava said the event shows that borders unite rather than divide. The annual pilgrimage, founded 15 years ago, rotates between Czech, Polish and Slovak clergy.