Czech Republic prepares for a World Cup 2026 qualifier match against South Korea, while a German court tries cases involving illegal waste exports to the country. The match marks the return of Czech football to World Cup competition after years of absence.
The Czech Republic is a landlocked Central European parliamentary republic and a member of both the European Union and NATO, anchoring it firmly within the Western political and security order. It maintains close ties with neighboring Germany, Poland, Austria, and Slovakia, and cooperates regionally through the Visegrád Group, though Czech positions on issues like EU integration and migration sometimes diverge from those partners. Domestic politics are competitive and at times polarized, with President Petr Pavel (a former NATO general associated with a pro-Western, Atlanticist stance) serving alongside a government led by Andrej Babiš and his ANO 2011 movement, a relationship that can reflect tensions between more EU-skeptic and firmly pro-Western currents. Relations with Russia have cooled markedly, with Prague generally supporting Ukraine and broader Western sanctions policy.