Czech news in brief for July 21: Tuesday's top morning headlines

Good morning, the Czech government is a week away from going on its summer break, but they're clearly not in holiday mood yet. The gloves are off as attacks against the president and constitutional judges intensify. In other news, we look at a potential strike at Prague Airport and the possible end of the country's only non-stop mental health hotline.

Presented on Monday, the Czech Interior Ministry's annual report on extremism and threats of radicalism has faced criticism after failing to even mention the far-right SPD party (now a junior government partner). This is despite the fact that prosecutors indicted its leader Tomio Okamura for incitement to hatred last year. Several experts and senior analysts at the ministry already confirmed they were leaving their position.

ANO denies. Interior Minister Lubomir Metna (ANO) dismissed criticism and denied that politicians interfered with the content of the report. He also claimed the latest staff departures were unrelated to the drafting and content of the document.

Weeks after the controversy surrounding Czechia's attendance at the NATO summit in Turkey, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has vowed never to be part of the same delegation as President Petr Pavel. "A disgrace. It was unbelievable, embarrassing," Babiš said of Pavel's participation, which the Constitutional Court ordered the government to ensure after the cabinet initially refused to include Pavel on the official delegation list.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc announced yesterday that the government will ask the Constitutional Court to dismiss or reject Pavel's competence lawsuit - a move criticized by the opposition as a blatant attack on judicial independence.

Five trade unions have declared a strike alert on Tuesday after the nomination of Radomír Lašák as the new chairman of the board of directors of Prague Airport, Novinky.cz reports. Highlighting Lašák's alleged past mismanagement of Czech Airlines, which they say led to ČSA's bankruptcy, the unions have called on the government to reconsider and find another candidate.

Who's he? After working at Czech semi-state energy company ČEZ, Lašák led ČSA from 2006 to 2009, a tenure during which Czech Airlines sold off its assets as it failed to face the emergence of low-cost airlines at the time. He now works at the auditing firm Grant Thornton.

Despite calling mental health a priority, the government's funding cuts will lead to the end of the country's only nationwide, 24/7 emergency hotline operated by the non-profit Cesta z krizie, Seznam Zpravy reports. Mental health experts fear the end of the free and non-stop crisis hotline (116 123) will leave many people with little options to seek help when in need.

What happens now? The organization is largely depending on state funding from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, but has reportedly not received enough to cover basic annual operations. It may now need to close some of its other emergency hotlines and keep only one functioning just a few hours daily.

Two helicopters that were sent to the south of France to help local authorities fight massive wildfires have return to their respective bases in Mělník, central Bohemia, and Přerov, eastern Moravia yesterday evening. Despite difficult weather over the Pyrenees mountains, the two helicopters carried out more than 400 water drops during their mission.

In related news, a 22-member team of Czech firefighters has been in Greece since mid-July, on standby in an area at high-risk of wildfires. They're expected to remain there for several weeks.