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The government has approved new legislation which would ban armed paramilitaries and vigilante groups pursuing a religious, nationalist or similar agenda. Those who break the law would pay a substantial fine. Meanwhile, unarmed communal groups aimed at strengthening local security, such as neighbourhood watches, will continue to be legal and state security forces members will have greater freedom to use their weapons.

Amidst growing tension over the latest developments in the Middle East, following the killing of Iran’s military leader Qassem Soleimani in Iraq, the Czech foreign minister has joined calls for a level-headed approach to the crisis, warning that a further escalation of tension will not only destabilize the region, but put at risk the progress made in the war on terror.

The Prague State Opera reopened on Sunday evening in grand style following a major reconstruction that took nearly three years and cost over a billion crowns. The gala performance took place exactly 132 years after the venue opened. To better celebrate the opera house’s history, Sunday’s all-star programme also included a multimedia installation staged by a prominent filmmaker and narrated by a famous writer.

At present elections in the Czech Republic usually take place across two days. That looks likely to end, however, with the Ministry of the Interior readying legislation for one-day polling. A new survey suggests the majority of voters would welcome the change – though opinion is divided on what day of the week is best.

More than half of Czechs believe that Czech modern history is being falsely reinterpreted and over 60 percent have a problem with constructing new memorials that change the accepted view on history, according to a fresh MEDIAN poll conducted exclusively for Czech Radio. The news comes in the wake of controversy surrounding the suggested transfer of a memorial to Soviet marshal Ivan Konev and the construction of another to the controversial Vlasov troops who helped liberate Prague.

Plans to build a futuristic museum in Olomouc showcasing some 200,000 post-war artworks from across Central Europe have been on hold for over a decade, plagued by land disputes, funding issues and political intrigue. But with a new culture minister and museum director in place, hopes are high the ambitious project will finally take off this year.

The start of the New Year has kicked off the largest and most successful fund-raiser in the country – the now traditional Three Kings Collection, organised by the Catholic charity Caritas. Now in its twentieth year, the collection has in total raised more than 1.2 billion crowns in aid of the needy.

In his first ever New Year’s address to the nation, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told Czechs they had reason to celebrate since they were currently experiencing one of the happiest and most successful periods in the country’s modern history and had no reason to fear the future. He said his long-term investment plan had the potential to turn the Czech Republic into a country like Switzerland.

The Czech economy grew at a healthy pace, the country’s unemployment rate is at the lowest in decades, wage growth remained solid and inflation stayed under control. By most measures, 2019 was a good year for the country, former central bank governor Miroslav Singer says. But he cautions that while the Czech Republic has caught with some Western European countries in purchasing power, it has neglected investment in infrastructure for the long haul.

As of the New Year, doctors will be obliged to use a new electronic sicknote system – or face fines of up to 10,000 crowns. But many general practitioners fear that the new and not-quite-paperless system will actually increase their administrative burden. Some are even threatening to boycott it.