Meanwhile in Czechia... 23/25
20.06.2025
Fighting fire in the national park with drones
In future, two drones will help to detect and localize sources of fire in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park at an early stage. One drone was purchased six months ago. A second is to be added in the second half of this year.
In future, the drones will be controlled by a squadron of pilots. The pilots will be on call around the clock. If necessary, the drones can also be controlled via cell phone and from home. "This will significantly reduce the time between a fire being reported and its localization in often difficult-to-access, rocky terrain.
However, the national park has now introduced a whole range of fire protection measures to ensure safety, especially as summer approaches. For example, fire patrols take place regularly. In addition, the park has now installed six large water tanks with a total capacity of 390,000 liters of water. The last one was added near Brtníky in the spring. "This means we have water where there is little," says the national park. In addition, there are another 13 small tanks with 1,000 liters of water each. Floating obstacles also help the fire department to pump out extinguishing water from the rivers.
In order to reach the source of the fire quickly in the rough terrain, the national park has had a specially prepared quad bike for firefighting operations for several years.
In addition, the national park has felled and removed endangered tree trunks. New, more fire-resistant trees such as beeches or oaks have been planted on bare patches. The national park rangers' cars are now equipped with fire-fighting water backpacks.
Edmundsklamm gorge to reopen soon
In the border village of Hřensko, preparations for the reopening of Edmundsklamm Gorge are in full swing. The popular excursion destination has been closed since the devastating fire in summer 2022. For a long time, trees damaged by the fire threatened to fall into the gorge, taking some of the boulders with them. These dangers have now been eliminated. However, trees can still break and rocks can still fall. In order to still be able to open the gorge to visitors, the municipality is planning to allow entry for a limited number of people, who will always be guided in groups through the gorge to the boat trips. "The necessary safety regulations are already available in a working version," Mayor Kateřina Horáková told Czech Radio Český rozhlas. A final monitoring and meeting with the chief geologist of the Bohemian Switzerland National Park is still pending. In addition, the specific conditions under which access will be possible in the future still need to be clarified. If Mayor Horáková has her way, the gorge could be reopened at the beginning of July.
Faster to Liberec from December
With the major rail timetable change on December 14, traveling from Saxony to Liberec will be much faster. By then, a notorious bottleneck in cross-border traffic will have disappeared: a three-kilometre-long track between the Czech border station Hrádek nad Nisou and the German town of Zittau. It runs across Polish territory and has been in need of renovation for decades. As it is purely a transit line, with no stopping point in Poland, there was very little motivation for the Polish side to invest money in the renovation. So the trains rumbled along the track at a maximum speed of 40 km/h.
However, the Polish railroad company PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe is now renovating the section of track. From December, trains will be able to travel at 100 km/h on this line. This will considerably reduce the journey time. There will also be renovation work on the line between Liberec and Hrádek nad Nisou, which will also be completed by the new timetable. The train will then travel ten minutes faster between Liberec and Zittau.
But the shorter journey time is one thing. The fact that this will result in completely new transfer times is another. From Zittau, passengers from the Czech Republic will now be able to board a train to Görlitz, Dresden or Berlin every hour. The same applies vice versa, of course. Both the L7 line from Liberec via Zittau, Varnsdorf to Seifhennersdorf and the RE2 from Dresden to Liberec will have new timetables from mid-December.
However, one last slow section will remain in the future. This is the border bridge over the Neisse, on which only 50 km/h is permitted. However, the effect is not that significant and the bridge will remain unrenovated until further notice. Passengers will have to use the replacement bus until December due to the construction work. But the new timetable will make travel more convenient.
Funding approved for 24 projects
The Local Steering Committee for the Small Projects Fund in the Elbe/Labe Euroregion met today in Modlany. With 27 project applications, it received more applications for a decision than ever before in this funding period. Sports projects made up a large proportion of the applications this time, while the areas of culture and education were also well represented.
Funding amounting to €212,937.20 was approved for 24 applications. Two applications were rejected and one was deferred for revision. 13 of the approved applications with a funding volume of €98,831.60 came from German applicants and ten applications with a funding volume of €114,105.60 came from Czech applicants.
All information on the individual projects (including those rejected) can be found in the list of projects.
Toilets along the Elbe cycle path
The city of Děčín has installed two mobile toilets along the Elbe Cycle Path in its municipal area. The aim is to make the popular long-distance cycle path even friendlier. The toilets are also economical, requiring neither energy nor regular maintenance. What's more, they have already been manufactured in an environmentally friendly way, using wood as the construction material.
The principle of the toilets is reminiscent of outhouse toilets. In the toilets, sawdust is sprinkled on the excrement after defecation, which also neutralizes any odours.
A further three toilets are to be installed by the start of the vacations at the beginning of July.
Czech government wins vote of confidence
The Czech government has successfully passed a motion of no confidence due to the Bitcoin affair. The vote was initiated by the opposition, which wanted to withdraw confidence from the government due to the affair. All 98 members of parliament from the governing parties present supported the government. Only 94 MPs were in favor of bringing down the government. In addition to the ANO and SPD, who had initiated the vote, the Pirates also voted against the government.
In the so-called Bitcoin affair, the Ministry of Justice had accepted a Bitcoin gift worth over 1 billion crowns (40 million euros) from a convicted criminal. Although Justice Minister Pavel Blažek (ODS) did not see any illegal actions on his part, he resigned at the end of May. However, the opposition is insisting that the entire government should resign, as Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) also bears responsibility for the scandal. Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS) was the focus of particular criticism. He is accused of having known about the affair earlier than he admitted.