Reading time: 2 minutes 
Summary for: Czech news in brief for April 27: Monday's top morning headlines
Czechia to miss NATO defense spending target
Czechia to miss NATO defense spending target
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced on social media Sunday that Czechia will miss its NATO defense spending target this year. According to a NATO assessment, the country will spend 1.78 percent of its GDP rather than the required two percent. Babiš plans to negotiate with alliance officials to include EU-funded infrastructure projects in the total. However, opposition leader Zdeněk Hřib questioned the government's commitment to meeting international security obligations today.
New Prague hospital to serve as military facility
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced on Sunday, April 26, that a planned hospital in Prague's Letňany district will be a military facility. Speaking via social media, Babiš explained that the campus will feature underground floors capable of converting into a crisis command center. The decision aims to help Czechia reach its NATO defense spending targets. The project, inspired by Israeli and Slovak models, is expected to take ten years to complete.
Radioactive materials found in Prague house
Prague firefighters responded to a house on Nad Studánkou Street on Saturday after hazardous substances were discovered in a basement. Officials recovered arsenic, mercury, cyanide, and radioactive thorium, alongside explosive picric acid. Spokesman Vojtěch Rotschedl stated that while the quantities were small and posed no immediate public danger, police have launched a criminal investigation into the illegal possession of radioactive and highly dangerous materials following the specialized disposal.
Czechia expects sunny skies and weekend warmth
The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute announced on Monday that the upcoming week will be sunny with no expected precipitation. While morning ground frosts are likely, with temperatures potentially dropping to minus four degrees Celsius on Thursday, daytime highs will gradually increase. Forecasters predict a significant warming trend starting Friday, with weekend temperatures reaching up to 25 degrees Celsius. Conditions will remain mostly clear to partly cloudy across the territory.
Rare Gothic masterpiece displayed in Brno region
The parish of Veverská Bítýška exhibited the 14th-century Madonna of Veveří painting at the Church of St. James on Saturday, April 25. This rare public display in the Brno region marks the first time the Gothic masterpiece has been seen locally in nearly 250 years. Following a 2016 restitution from the National Gallery, the artwork is usually kept at the Diocesan Museum in Brno under strict security for preservation.
