Czech news in brief for June 16: Tuesday's top morning headlines

Massive media layoffs could be ahead in Czechia after a bill was approved that changes public media funding structure. An estimated 500 layoffs could hit the national broadcaster as the closely watched fight between the government and the country's public news organizations moves ahead.

Meanwhile international experts are challenging the Czech Prime Minister's take on drug policy coordination, and Prague is currently standing in for East Germany in the BBC's latest espionage thriller. Here's this morning's headline mix.

Czech Television and Czech Radio are bracing for hundreds of layoffs after the cabinet approved a bill shifting public media funding to the state budget and rolling financing back to 2024 levels, a roughly 15 percent cut. Czech Television expects to lose around CZK 1 billion, risking 300 to 500 layoffs out of 2,900 staff and cuts to news, sports and regional broadcasting, while Czech Radio faces 150 to 200 cuts from its 1,350-strong workforce plus reduced foreign correspondents and children's programming.

What happens next? Television director Hynek Chudárek called the plan unacceptable and warned it would nearly liquidate the broadcaster, though he's holding out for further negotiation before then. Public service unions aren't waiting either way, with a warning strike already set for June 22. The bill now passes to Parliament.

A group of 35 foreign academics, doctors and researchers has written an open letter to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš opposing a move to strip drug policy coordination from the PM's office and hand it to the Ministry of Health. The specialists argue the current cross-ministerial structure has made Czechia a European leader on low infection rates, few overdose deaths and balanced harm reduction. Babiš has defended the shift, saying his own data contradicts the letter and questioning the signatories' expertise.

In related news: Yesterday, the cabinet banned two synthetic opioids – methiodone, linked to a death in 2025, and a brorphine relative carrying high overdose risk – and placed 17 more substances, mostly synthetic cannabinoids replacing the banned HHC, under formal review.

Data compiled by the Czech Statistical Office reveals that the number of part-time positions as a main employment format is growing steadily across the country. In the final quarter of last year, 514,200 individuals worked a shorter-duration main job, marking a year-on-year increase of 30,900 people. Women represent 70 percent of all part-time workers, with 15 percent of working women holding shorter jobs compared to just five percent of men.

The number: The total pool of part-time employees has risen by 126,300 individuals since 2018, representing a one-third increase. However, researchers note that overall part-time employment remains below the European Union average due to a high domestic contribution burden.

Airline carrier Wizz Air will launch a direct seasonal flight route connecting Prague to Poprad-Tatry Airport starting at the end of October. The new connection will operate three times a week on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays using an Airbus A321neo aircraft with a capacity for 239 passengers. Flight times are scheduled at one hour and five minutes from Prague, while direct rail alternatives take approximately seven hours.

Good to know: Passengers landing at Poprad-Tatry Airport should plan their onward travel carefully as there is currently no public transport connecting the airport to the city or the Tatras. Travelers must rely on pre-arranged transportation, taxis, or car rentals.

A wave of scam texts is hitting Czech phones, posing as official notices for unpaid speeding fines. The message warns that a speeding vehicle registered in your registry has been recorded during electronic monitoring and demands payment within three days via a link. Click it, and you land on a site that looks like a Czech government page, hosted on a suspicious domain rather than an official one.

The tell: no real Czech authority currently collects fines this way, and no Czech state institution operates websites that collect fines through this method. Legitimate notices include specifics, location, time, and your plate number. If you're unsure, contact the Ministry of Transport's infoline directly.

Prague as East Germany Production on the BBC and MGM+ espionage drama Legacy of Spies is continuing across Prague, with parts of the city center dressed to double as Cold War-era East Germany. The series has added Hugh Laurie to the cast as the intelligence chief Control, alongside Joe Alwyn playing operative Jim Prideaux.

Trolleybus comeback Prague transport authorities conducted a successful pantographic test to verify overhead line functions on lines 51 and 53 ahead of a full summer relaunch. This marks the symbolic return of a trolleybus to Strahov and Hanspaulka for the first time in decades.

Shirt rip steals the show South Korea beat Czechia 2-1 in Guadalajara, but the internet cared more about Lee Han-Beom ripping Pavel Šulc's shirt clean off in the 25th minute. Fifa, meanwhile, is fending off questions over thousands of visibly empty seats, insisting attendance figures count scanned tickets rather than who's actually in their chair.