Did the Czech central bank, or CNB, announce at the start of 2025 that it would utilize ChatGPT to forecast inflation rate developments? No, that's not true: The bank did not announce plans to use ChatGPT to forecast inflation. Instead, in early 2025, the CNB published a blog post describing an experiment it conducted testing AI's initial potential for inflation…

Is Czech Television, a state-owned TV broadcaster, funded with U.S. foreign aid grants, which could influence its content? No, that's not true: Czech Television confirmed to Lead Stories that they do not receive any funding from the U.S. government or from U.S. agencies that provide such support. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on April…

Did Ukraine lose an F-16 fighter jet because its pilot deserted with the aircraft? No, that's not true: Ukraine lost an F-16 fighter jet during a combat mission in May 2025 after an unspecified incident happened onboard and caused the pilot to eject from the aircraft, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Air Force. The pilot was later found…

Did the Czech Civic Democratic Party, the government coalition's leading party, only allow a paid audience to attend a public debate with the Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, at a pre-election event in a Czech town? No, that's not true: No evidence supports this claim. The party's spokesman, Jakub Skyva, confirmed to Lead Stories that such events are open to all,…

Is the Czech Republic donating 2 billion euros to Ukraine for medical aid? No, that's not true: The Czech Republic will reconstruct Ukrainian hospitals for 98 million euros (2.5 billion koruna) using the EU's Ukraine Facility Program funds, allocated by the bloc for Ukraine's aid. It is not the Czech Republic's money, and the amount is not 2 billion euros.…

Do the obligations of real estate owners to pay annual property taxes to the authorities mean that they do not own the property at all? No, that's not true: property ownership comes with rights and obligations, as defined by law. Owners have the right to own, dispose of, or bequeath properties, as is also guaranteed by the EU's Charter of…

Did the Czech government refuse to help citizens with financial relief for the 2024 floods, while providing funds to aid Ukraine instead? No, that's not true: The Czech government allocated and used funds worth billions of koruna from the 2024 and 2025 state budgets to assist people affected by the severe floods that hit the country in September 2024. Extensive…

Did Danuse Nerudova, a member of the European Parliament for the STAN Czech government party, known for its staunch support of Ukraine, appear on the Czech state television as a young girl, reciting a poem admiring the communist regime in the former Soviet Union and Stalin? No, that's not true: Nerudova confirmed to Lead Stories that she is not the…

Did the Czech Constitutional Court cancel the early elections in 2009 because its president at the time, Pavel Rychetsky, did not like the parties that would likely win according to pre-election polls? No, that's not true: The Constitutional Court upheld a complaint of one of the then-lawmakers against the constitutionality of the early dissolution of the parliament. The court ruled…