Czech news in brief for June 28: Sunday's top afternoon headlines

Temperatures across Czechia are breaking daily records from early morning, with the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute reporting values up to 40 degrees Celsius in places including Řež near Prague. Doksany, which set the all-time high record yesterday, has reported a new all-time record of 41.1 degrees today, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Czechia.

Record-breaking heatwave: The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute says the national temperature record set early Sunday afternoon may yet be broken again later today, as temperatures continue to soar across the country.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš will lead the Czech delegation to the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7–8, Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said during a CNN Prima News debate. The delegation will include President Petr Pavel, despite earlier government decisions excluding him and a Constitutional Court injunction requiring his participation.

Summit dispute: Legal and political disputes continue over who should head the delegation, with opposition figures and former officials arguing the president should lead under diplomatic protocol. Macinka’s comments on the court ruling drew criticism and renewed calls for his dismissal from government posts.

A Czech Railways train carrying around 630 passengers broke down in Brandenburg, Germany, after a storm damaged overhead power lines on the Hamburg–Prague route. With no electricity, air conditioning failed and doors locked, leaving passengers in temperatures reported up to 40–50 degrees Celsius. Three people were hospitalized for circulation problems.

Key details: Firefighters evacuated vulnerable passengers while others remained onboard until the train was later towed to Karstädt. About 500 travelers were later moved to a shelter and transferred onward by Deutsche Bahn ICE services in the morning.

The Czech government has approved a mandate for the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara outlining how it plans to meet a new alliance commitment to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense by 2035, according to officials. However, senior ministers have so far avoided confirming whether Czechia will fully meet the target.

Defense plans: The plan reportedly includes reaching 2 percent of GDP this year and increasing core defense spending to 3.5 percent by 2035, with the remaining 1.5 percent linked to security-related costs.

A smog alert was declared for Prague and the Central Bohemian Region on Sunday afternoon due to high concentrations of ground-level ozone, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute said. The warning comes amid the country's record-breaking heatwave. Ground-level ozone forms during hot, sunny weather and can cause eye irritation, coughing, headaches, and breathing difficulties.

Health advice: Meteorologists urged children, older adults, and people with chronic respiratory conditions to avoid strenuous outdoor activity. A similar alert remains in effect in the Ústí nad Labem Region, where ozone levels first exceeded safety thresholds on Friday.