Czech news in brief for April 1: Wednesday’s top afternoon headlines

Poland’s counter-intelligence agency (ABW) arrested two more people suspected of having participated in the arson attack against a weapons factory in the Czech city of Pardubice last month. Aged 22 and 23, the two suspects are said to be pro-Palestinian activists, but details about their identity remain scarce. Five more people were already arrested, including one still detained in Slovakia.

Czech drivers are crossing the border to neighboring Poland en masse to fill their tanks after the Polish government capped fuel prices at gas stations, Seznam Zpravy reports. Long queues at some stations were already forming since Tuesday, with just a short distance drive helping Czechs sometimes save hundreds of crowns. The Czech government is still mulling different measures, including capping retailers’ margins, to keep fuel prices from skyrocketing.

Parts of the bilateral treaty signed between the Vatican and the Czech Republic in 2024 is contrary to the Constitution, the Constitutional Court (ÚS) ruled today, including the controversial and limitless recognition of confessional secrecy. Another contentious point would allow church authorities to set conditions to make their cultural heritage and archives available to research. Further negotiations will now be needed before the treaty can be fully ratified.

Prominent U.S. historian Timothy Snyder will be one of the guests of honor at this year’s edition of the Book World Prague literary festival, taking place from May 14-17 at the Exhibitions Grounds in Výstaviště. Snyder is the author of a number of acclaimed books including Bloodlands, On Tyranny and On Freedom. Last year, over 60,000 attended Book World Prague, the largest annual literary fair in the country.

The Ministry of Culture announced that visitors will be able to get free admission to three museums across the Czech Republic once a month, on every first Sunday. The new rule, taking into effect from this upcoming Sunday, April 5, will apply to the permanent exhibitions of the National Gallery Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno and the Museum of Art in Olomouc.