16.01.2026

Babiš cabinet wins vote of confidence

The new Czech government has won the important vote of confidence in parliament. After a two-day debate, 108 MPs from the three governing parties ANO, SPD and Motorists voted in favour of the new government, with 91 against. The government needed a simple majority of all MPs to win the vote.

The government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) has thus cleared the final hurdle. The members of the cabinet had already been inaugurated in mid-December and had started work. The new government must face a vote of confidence in parliament within 30 days of its appointment.

In a record-breaking debate that lasted two days, opposition MPs criticized the new government's planned high spending and the threat of a growing budget deficit. The court cases against Andrej Babiš for subsidy fraud, which have already lasted four legislative periods, and for defamatory poster advertising against parliamentary speaker Tomio Okamura were also discussed. Both enjoy immunity as members of parliament. Given the majority situation, it is unlikely that their immunity will be lifted.

Solution for massive train delays

At the beginning of January, there were again massive train delays between Prague and Dresden and onwards to Berlin. The reason was again a section in Roudnice nad Labem (Raudnitz) below the Ervin Špindler Bridge, which is currently being renovated (we reported on this in issue 46/25). Due to the construction work, train drivers have to retract the pantographs for this line. In the occasional event that they forget to do so, safety hooks are used to pull down the pantographs. The result is not only a line that is blocked for hours, but also extensive damage to the locomotive, which the transport companies in particular have complained about. This has happened to 18 trains since the summer.

The new solution presented by the infrastructure management was to insulate the area around the overhead line on the bridge using Teflon rods, which were installed quickly and were probably cheaper than the many destroyed pantographs and delays to train services.

The solution of the past few months, i.e. the safety hooks that the rail infrastructure management had so vehemently defended as the only possible solution, have now become the target of ridicule and malice. There is a song about the safety hooks and a computer game in which anyone who doesn't pull in the customer quickly enough loses.

For the first time in 60 years: Elbe under ice

Although the temperatures have since dropped, a spectacle could be observed in the Elbe valley near Hřensko (Herrnskretschen) and upstream at the beginning of the week that had not been seen for at least 60 years: the Elbe was completely encased in an ice sheet. Ice floes piled up on top of it. The river almost came to a standstill.

The reason for this now rare natural spectacle was not only the extreme cold of up to -17 degrees, but also the low flow rate. It is currently at the level of a dry summer. In addition, the coal-fired power plant in Mělník took less water and therefore returned less. The water from the power plant is then usually slightly warmer than before.

The fact that this spectacle has not occurred for so long has something to do with the construction of the dams on the Vltava, which always release the water slightly warmer than it flowed into the reservoirs. The increasing connection of municipalities to sewage treatment plants also tends to produce warmer water. So a lot has to come together to create such an ice shield.
The waterway administration drew the consequences from the phenomenon and closed the waterway from the state border with Germany to the barrage in Střekov (Schreckenstein) in Ústí nad Labem (Aussig) until further notice. Since another section between Lovosice and Obříství was closed, the entire Elbe navigation between Pardubice and the state border is de facto out of service.

Another acquittal in the forest fire trial

The former ranger in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park Jiří L. was once again acquitted by the district court in Ústí nad Labem of the charge of arson in the huge forest fire in the summer of 2022. After the first acquittal almost a year ago, the public prosecutor's office appealed. The court of appeal in Prague then ordered a retrial before the district court. This again ended in an acquittal. A conviction based solely on the defendant's statements was not permissible. There was simply a lack of evidence for a valid conviction. Delays in recording evidence were also criticized. In Malinový důl (Raspberry Ground), where the fire was apparently started, a large number of people were moving around at the time, according to the court.

The devastating forest fire in the summer of 2022 destroyed large parts of the forest in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park, which is still visible today. The fire had also spread to the German side of the Great Winter Mountain area. In Mezná (Stimmersdorf), the fire completely destroyed three houses. Miraculously, no people or other houses were harmed.

Czech Republic disarms

Illegal gun ownership is also a problem in the Czech Republic. The police are using a new weapons law to grant the sixth amnesty for illegally held weapons. From 1 January until the end of June, these can be handed in or legalized at any police station without penalty. The officers do not ask about the origin of the weapons, it is said.

According to the police, over 200 weapons and more than 2,000 pieces of ammunition have already been handed in since the beginning of the year. During the last weapons amnesty in 2021, the police received over 3,800 weapons and 133,000 pieces of ammunition. Weapons ownership in the Czech Republic is steadily increasing. More than one million weapons were registered last year. The number of gun licenses rose to over 324,000. The Czech Republic has a population of over 10 million.

Glass from Chřibská again?

Chřibská (Kreibitz) in Bohemian Lusatia was once home to one of the oldest glassworks in the world. However, the glassworks, founded in 1414, was closed in 2007. At the time, it was considered the oldest in the Czech Republic. Attempts are now being made to bring glass production back to Chřibská in the form of glassblowing. Although production does not take place at the historic site, an extension to the rectory could become the new home of glass in the future. The Association of Friends of the Chřibská Glassworks currently operates the glassworks on the property of one of its members. Jaroslav Veselý, a founding member of the association, worked at the old glassworks until 2007 and there is a great deal of interest in the handmade glass products, including from abroad.

The glassblowing workshop is only the first step. The association urgently needs premises. It receives support from the municipality. However, subsidies are needed for the extension to the vicarage, as the parish itself does not have the money. The second major problem facing the Glass Friends is their age. They urgently need new blood and are hoping for apprentices from glass schools.

Northern Bohemia is famous for its glass art. The most important centers are located in Kamenický Šenov (Steinschönau), Nový Bor (Haida) and Železný Brod (Eisenbrod).

(This is an automatic translation by DeepL Translator.)