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Defence Minister Martin Stropnický has said that the Czech Republic could send up to 100 soldiers to serve with NATO forces in eastern member states. Speaking on a TV discussion programme, he made clear that if preparations went according to plan, the Czechs could be sent in the second half of 2016.

Smaller unions at one of the Czech Republic’s biggest employers, the state controlled Czech post office today staged a demonstration in the capital. They aimed to highlight what they claim are scandalous working conditions and management practices.

Another group of Christian refugees from Iraq is set to arrive at Prague’s Václav Havel Airport on Friday. The families are part of a larger group whose relocation has been initiated and financed by the foundation Generace 21. This time, however, the refugees’ arrival has caused a wave of protests. Inhabitants of a small village in north Moravia where some of the families are to settle have launched a petition against them.

A breakthrough of sorts has occurred in the ownership tussle over millions of litres of fuel stocked by the Czech state strategic reserves authority in Germany. But the go ahead to ship the contested fuel back to the Czech Republic is now causing headaches on its own.

Czech and Polish ministers of the environment met on Thursday with the Czech side having a lengthy list of issues to discuss. High up on that list were Polish plans to explore for uranium and continue the development of a massive brown coal lignite mine just across the frontier.

The Czech government has definitively called an end to negotiations with the ailing mining company OKD. Industry and Trade Minister Jan Mládek on Wednesday advised the company to file for bankruptcy and said the government would now focus exclusively on helping the thousands of employees to be laid-off.

The attention of Europe will be on Brussels on Thursday when EU leaders meet to renegotiate the terms of the UK’s membership. However, while the likes of Germany and France are keen to cut a deal and help prevent a possible British exit from the EU, the Czech Republic and the other Visegrad Four states are refusing to accept certain provisions.

School inspectors are investigating a shocking case of students bullying a teacher in a secondary school in Prague. The woman died at the beginning of February after collapsing in the classroom. Although the school denies any link between her death and the incident, experts say her physical and mental suffering could have taken a toll. The case also raises questions as to whether Czech teachers are sufficiently prepared to deal with such incidents.

The leaders of the Visegrad Four and representatives from Macedonia and Bulgaria met in Prague on Monday to discuss plans for closing the Macedonian and Bulgarian borders with Greece, should Athens and Ankara fail to meet their obligations in bringing the flow of migrants under control. Although the Visegrad group insists this is merely a back-up plan, the summit has raised concern about new divisions in Europe.

The Czech art market saw the second best result in its history last year, according to data released by the Czech art investment website artplus.cz. Collectors and investors spent about 926 million crowns at Czech auctions in 2015, which is around 70 million more than in the previous year. The most expensive painting was a still life by Emil Filla which sold for more than 16 million crowns. I asked Jan Skřivánek of ArtPlus what kind of art was most sought after at auction houses: