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Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has inherited a number of major challenges, from rising inflation to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Czech Prime Minister Petr FialaThe new center-right government has taken office, with rising inflation and energy costs, a record budget deficit and Monitoring of COVID-19 pandemic.
The 57-year-old former university professor leads a five-party coalition, from his Conservative prosecutor to the more liberal Pirate Party, which is the first time the Democratic Democrats have joined the government.
The Coalition, which analysts hope is more western than its predecessor and more committed to the European Union, will take office on Friday at a time when house costs are rising and a surge of coronary virus infections is straining hospitals.
It also inherits an agenda that includes the potential bidding for new units of nuclear power plants that cost billions of euros.
The new government won 108 seats in the 200-member lower house in the October election, giving it a strong majority.
But he has opposition from Prime Minister Andrej Babis’ party, the largest party in the House, and the far-right SPD.
“We don’t start in an easy situation. We are suffering from big problems like COVID, energy prices, inflation and all that that entails, ”Fiala said after appointing his government.
The rise in COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic has been stronger than previous waves, although the numbers have declined in recent weeks. The government wants to boost the number of vaccines left behind by the European Union, while they are lighter than in the past.
The cabinet will also look for ways to alleviate the burden of inflation over 13 years, and rising energy costs worsened in October when a major electricity and gas supplier disrupted operations as a result of a price jump across Europe.
First test
Coalition can have internal conflicts.
A plan to cut spending by 80 billion Czech crowns ($ 3.58 billion) in the 2022 budget presents the first major test: parties must agree on savings and navigate a budget that has skipped essentials in recent years due to a rapid rise in pensions. public salaries.
Fiala avoided a possible clash this week by agreeing to a government appointment President Milos ZemanJan Lipavsky, 36, of the Pirate Party, opposed the appointment of a foreign minister.
Zeman, who has held power in the cabinets of the past, had reservations about Israel, his longtime Czech ally, and his cooler stance on Visegrad’s Central European alliance. It is made up of Hungary and Poland, which have clashed with Brussels, and Slovakia.
The Coalition’s program said the country would continue to develop strategic cooperation with Israel and that Visegrad’s cooperation, united in a strong stance against illegal migration in the EU, would continue.
The coalition has also stressed cooperation with the world’s “democracies,” such as Taiwan or Japan, Asia, and seeks to review relations with Russia and China, two countries that Zeman has sought deeper ties with in the past.
The Czech Republic will take over the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2022.
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