Czech news in brief for June 25: Thursday's top morning headlines

A consitutional court has ordered President Pavel on the roster for the NATO summit in Ankara in July. While the president's victory has been months in the making, some commentators are saying the bigger controversy is NATO spending. Meanwhile Foreign Ministr Petr Macinka called the ruling a coup and said the president would not attend dinner.

Speaking of diplomatic dinners, I had the pleasure of trying a real Indian mango at the Indian Embassy in Prague for the first time last night. Refreshing with an incredible depth of flavor, it also made me excited to see how expats are staying connected with their home culture through food.

You can taste Indigan mango today in Prague. More details and your morning mix of headlines below.

The Constitutional Court issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday ordering the government to secure President Petr Pavel's place in the Czech delegation to the NATO summit in Ankara in July. The government had announced Monday it did not count on his participation; Pavel turned to the court the same evening and the injunction followed within hours. Foreign Minister Petr Macinka called the ruling an attempt at a constitutional coup.

Why it matters: Commentators say that Pavel's victory is only partial. The court expects to decide the underlying jurisdictional dispute within months, meaning the question of who leads Czech foreign policy abroad may remain unresolved well past Ankara. Others say that the fighting overlooks the most important matter in the eyes of allies: NATO spending.

Ondřej Prokop, ANO's candidate for Prague mayor, announced Wednesday he is withdrawing from the autumn elections and resigning all posts, citing media pressure. Seznam Zprávy reported he failed to declare three Prague flats in his property statement and that his declared income across three tax returns differs by millions of crowns. Prokop had already been removed from the Prague Assembly's audit committee and the Public Transport Company supervisory board.

The fallout: Party leader Andrej Babiš said the scandals were damaging ANO and called for an extraordinary meeting of the Prague branch. Candidate lists must be finalized by end of June.

MPs debated a government bill Wednesday that would strip temporary protection from Ukrainian refugees who spend more than 30 days outside Schengen, or who face criminal or administrative expulsion. Humanitarian benefit eligibility would also tighten, requiring employment, self-employment, or job-center registration, and physical presence in Czechia for at least 16 days per month.

The scale: Czechia has issued 777,562 temporary protection visas since Russia's invasion; 385,436 people were in the country as of end of April. Interior Minister Lubomír Metnar said around 90,000 refugees received humanitarian benefits in March. STAN chairman Vít Rakušan backed parts of the bill but cautioned against framing Ukrainian refugees as a source of harm.

Czechia's tertiary completion rate sits at 36 percent against an EU average of 44.8 percent. The European Commission points to a structural problem: around 70 percent of Czech students work during term, one of the highest rates in the EU, largely because state grants cover just 2 percent of student income, versus an EU average of 12 percent.

The context: The dropout problem is compounded by an early tracking system that effectively locks in a student's university prospects at age 15, when secondary school choices are made. Children of less-educated parents have markedly lower chances of reaching higher education, a gap the Commission flags as growing.

The Embassy of India is bringing five or more varieties of authentic Indian mangoes to the farmers' market at Jiřího z Poděbrad in Prague 3 today, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., as part of India's annual mango harvest season. Entry is free, tasting is free, and the official inauguration is 10 a.m.

Why it's worth going: India grows roughly 40 percent of the world's mangoes, but almost none reach Central Europe, the varieties sold in Czech supermarkets are thick-skinned cultivars from Brazil, Peru, or West Africa, chosen to survive weeks in cold-storage containers. The festival is a rare chance to taste what the fruit actually is aromatic, soft varieties that never make it onto a supermarket shelf.

Heat to peak at 40°C Temperatures will climb to 36°C on Friday, 38°C Saturday, and a possible 40°C Sunday, according to ČHMÚ. The all-time Czech record of 40.4°C, set in August 2012, could fall at the weekend, with a cooldown expected Monday.

84-year-old windmill turns again The blades of a unique windmill near Nové Dvory outside Bílovec spun for the first time since 1942 on Tuesday, after a painstaking restoration that included a custom-made oak brake, a piece of mill engineering so rare that craftsmen had to draw on surviving examples across the country to reconstruct it. The public can see it in action on July 26.

Free ice cream for report cards School ends Friday and businesses across Prague, Brno, and beyond are handing out free ice cream, fries, and cotton candy to children who show their report cards. Pools and zoos are also getting in on the fun.