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…

Did the EU establish the Temporary Protection Directive a few years before Russia invaded Ukraine, since it knew the war was coming and that there would be an influx of refugees? No, that's not true: Such a directive was already approved in 2001 following the conflicts in former Yugoslavia. It had never been triggered before March 4, 2022, when it…

Did Czech President Petr Pavel directly address citizens on the Seznam Zpravy news website in a plea to defend their country? No, that's not true: Petr Pavel did not make any such direct appeal via Seznam Zpravy. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on March 20, 2025. The person speaking in the video says in…

Did Jan Lipavsky, Czech Foreign Affairs Minister, tell U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the European plan to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, which Rubio cited in an interview with CNN on February 28, 2025? No, that's not true. The two spoke for the first time on an official phone call only a few days after the…

Is the EU planning to seize savings from citizens' accounts to fund its new defence policy and armaments? No, that's not true: The EU plans to increase defence spending to deter potential Russian attacks and reduce military dependence on the United States, but the proposed ways of funding this policy do not include seizing citizens' savings.The claim appeared in a…

Does the image of a train carrying tanks show the withdrawal of U.S. military aid to Ukraine or of U.S. troops from Poland? No, that's not true: The image is taken from footage of rail transport of army tanks that already appeared on YouTube in 2014 and has nothing to do with 2025 events. Furthermore, U.S. military aid to Ukraine…

Were Czech flags banned at a rally in Prague to mark the anniversary of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and to show Czech support for the war-torn country? No, that's not true: One of the co-organizers confirmed to Lead Stories by phone that Czech flags were not banned at the event. In addition, video recordings of the whole event and media…