Prague firefighters are responding to a massive gas leak on Jaromírova Street in Nusle. They are evacuating nearby buildings, and road traffic, including tram lines, has been halted. All components of the integrated rescue system are on site. The firefighters reported this on the X network. Jan Srb, spokesperson for Pražská plynárenská Distribuce, told ČTK that an unidentified company damaged the pipeline during construction work. According to the police, the restrictions will likely last several hours.

President Petr Pavel will receive representatives of the Council of the Czech Republic’s Association of Regions at Prague Castle on Thursday afternoon. They will discuss, among other things, transferring the funding of non-teaching school staff from the state to school founders, namely municipalities and regions. Other topics will include road repair funding and the reimbursement decree. Pavel will then meet current and former regional governors and Prague mayors on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the regions.

MPs will meet on Thursday evening to discuss the future conflict of interest of ANO leader Andrej Babiš. The extraordinary session of the lower house was convened by MPs from the minority parties KDU-ČSL, ODS, STAN, TOP 09, and the Pirates. The debate is not expected to result in a resolution.

The Chamber of Deputies returned next year’s draft budget to the government for revision. According to ANO, the proposal lacks roughly 96 billion CZK needed for transport construction, co-financing of agricultural projects, and part of the mandatory expenditures of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

The outgoing government now has 20 days to make adjustments. It is expected to focus on budget revenues in connection with a more favorable economic growth forecast, and, in cooperation with the National Budget Council, to review certain social expenditures.

The Senate has once again proposed a constitutional amendment that would grant the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) the authority to audit the finances of Czech Television (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo).

The upper chamber of Parliament agreed on this on Wednesday with 48 of its 54 members present voting in favor. The senators from STAN ultimately did not propose postponing the debate on the amendment. The amendment will now be reviewed by the government and the Chamber of Deputies.

President Petr Pavel today received Yuliya Navalnaya, widow of the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, at Prague Castle. Navalnaya has become a symbol of resistance against Vladimir Putin’s regime, and thanks to her, her husband’s legacy lives on despite the risks, the Czech president wrote on X after their meeting. In the evening, Navalnaya will take part in a discussion at the Václav Havel Library, focusing among other things on a biographical book about her husband, which Navalny wrote before his death.

Members of Parliament have been arguing for roughly seven hours about the draft state budget for next year. It was submitted by the outgoing government of Petr Fiala (ODS), and the incoming coalition of ANO, Motorists, and SPD wants to return it for revision. According to the new coalition, it lacks about 96 billion crowns needed for essential expenditures. Opposition speakers are also calling on the coalition to present its own budget. The debate has also touched on disputes over who is responsible for problems with the digitalization of the construction permitting process.

ANO leader and the country’s likely future prime minister Andrej Babiš on Wednesday presented President Petr Pavel with the proposed line-up of his future coalition cabinet of ANO, SPD and the Motorists. The president said he would begin interviewing individual candidates on Friday, but refused to accept the nomination of Filip Turek, honorary president of the Motorists, who has come under fire for controversial racist and homophobic posts on social media.

The Motorists originally nominated Turek to the post of foreign minister, but later swapped portfolios and proposed him for the post of environment minister instead. According to Babiš, the president expressed the view that he should not be a member of the government at all, citing “legal reasons”. The ANO chairman said he respects the president’s decision and would discuss the matter with the Motorists.

All three parties have selected their own nominees to their given portfolios.

The consultations with individual nominees are expected to begin on Friday and should wind up within a fortnight.

President Pavel still expects Babiš to explain publicly how he intends to resolve his conflict of interest due to ownership of the Agrofert holding before he is appointed prime minister. No specific date has been set, but according to the Castle the new government could be in place by mid-December.

In August of this year, Russian forces captured a Czech citizen who had voluntarily fought in Ukraine. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to ČTK that it is handling the case. According to Russian sources, 21-year-old Hoang Tran, who holds both Czech and Vietnamese citizenship, is facing trial in the Luhansk People’s Republic, an internationally unrecognized separatist entity in eastern Ukraine. He faces a prison sentence of seven to 15 years.

On Thursday, it will be overcast to cloudy with early morning isolated snow. Temperature highs will range from 0 to 4 °C.