Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democrats, ODS) has downplayed his government’s decision not to sign the EU fiscal discipline treaty. Speaking at the “Economic Interests of the Czech Republic in the EU” conference on Monday, the center-right politician also said he was working towards closer EU integration in the form of finalization of the single market — which he lamented was not completed decades ago.

Following a move by EU foreign ministers to widen sanctions on Belarus state officials — including by imposing a travel ban — Minsk threatened Tuesday to recall its ambassadors from the European Union and Poland, which holds the rotating EU Presidency. In line with the EU-wide response agreed later in the day, the Czech Republic has said it will recall its ambassador to Belarus, Jiří Karas.

Following a meeting with Czech Minister of Education Josef Dobeš in Brussels on Friday, EU Commissioner for Employment Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor confirmed that the European Commission had found “serious faults” with Czech education and development programs that depend on EU funds. The EC has already suspended payment of Kč 1.2 billion earmarked for Czech projects. 

Education Minister Josef Dobeš has faced intense criticism in recent weeks over planned reforms of the Czech higher education and an announcement by the European Commission that it is suspending the payment of Kč 1.2 billion of EU funds earmarked for several programs within the Education for Competitiveness Operational Program (ECOP). Now with the threat of losing Kč 53 billion, Dobeš’ position appears untenable.