President Petr Pavel made his first address to the current lower house of the Czech Parliament on Tuesday. In a 10-minute speech, the head of state called on MPs to seek consensus where possible – and made a pointed call for an increase in defence spending.

The first repatriation flight from the Middle East brought back close to 200 Czech nationals late on Monday night. For hundreds of others waiting to be picked up, conditions on the ground and in the air are changing by the hour.

The military operation against the Khamenei regime has halted flights from many popular tourist destinations in the Middle East, leaving thousands of travelers stranded. The Czech government is sending out repatriation flights to destinations where airports are now operating.

During his visit to the United States, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka addressed both the UN Security Council and a special session of the UN General Assembly, directly challenging Russia over its war in Ukraine.  “Please, Honourable Representatives of Russia, tell your President Putin to stop this war,” he said at one of Tuesday’s meeting, marking four years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, humanitarian aid from the Czech Republic continues. Among the organisations involved is Caritas Czech Republic – one of the country’s largest non-profits and a member of Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis.  The Catholic charity  supports refugees within the Czech Republic and delivers assistance directly in Ukraine. Evžen Diviš, Regional Manager for Development and Humanitarian Programmes in Ukraine, outlines what the organisation is focusing on today.

As the international community marks four years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in the Czech Republic, the anniversary has laid bare growing rifts between the president, the government and the opposition over further support for Kyiv.

Czechia has a complete government. Czech President Petr Pavel has officially appointed Igor Červený of the Motorists’ party as the country’s new Minister of the Environment after nearly two months of uncertainty.

Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka is travelling to Washington to attend the inaugural meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly established Peace Council. Prague has been invited to join the initiative, but for now is participating only as an observer while it monitors the positions of its EU and NATO partners.

The halt of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline due to extensive Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure has caused serious problems for Hungary and Slovakia, which are still dependent on Russian oil. Amid rising tensions, Prague has offered Bratislava “a limited volume of oil supplies” to help the neighbor state in the event of a crisis.

The government on Monday extended the validity of a regulation allowing Ukrainian refugees to apply for special long-term residence status. Thousands of people are expected to apply.