Society

Did the United States skip the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024? No, that's not true: President Joe Biden did not attend, but a U.S. delegation was present, led by Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta. The other members of the delegation included Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, and Secretary…

Do 190,000 Ukrainian pensioners in the Czech Republic receive any kind of pension or retirement benefits? No, that's not true: According to the Czech authorities, only a few Ukrainians fled their homeland after the Russian invasion and received a pension in the Czech Republic.The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on October 13, 2024. The video…

Has the European Union abandoned the twice-yearly clock change to and from summer time? No, it has not: The European Parliament voted in favor of cancelling the switch to daylight saving time, or summer time, as it is also known, but the European Council, which brings together the leaders of all EU member states, has yet to agree on a…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ask NATO countries to send their soldiers to Ukraine right after the NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels on October 17, 2024? No, that's not true: Zelenskyy did not make such an appeal there but spoke of the need for the Ukrainian army to continue to receive more military equipment from allies to fend off…

Does comparing the price of cheese before communism and now prove that the standard of living in the Czech Republic before the Velvet Revolution in 1989 was higher than it is now? No, that's not true: Such a comparison is a complex issue that includes many other factors, such as wage growth. Besides, in the case of cheese and most…

Did the Ukrainian beverage company Obolon buy a traditional Czech beer brand, Braník, a lager brewed by Pivovary Staropramen, part of the Molson Coors Beverage Company? No, that's not true: A spokeswoman for Pivovary Staropramen confirmed to Lead Stories that there was no such deal and that the information was false. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published…

Did Czech leaders ignore the floods that hit the Czech Republic in September 2024, not visiting the places most damaged by the disaster, unlike Slovak President Peter Pellegrini in his home country? No, that's not true: Czech President Petr Pavel and Prime Minister Petr Fiala and other ministers visited the region affected by the calamity. The government had also warned…

Did the head of the Czech senate, Milos Vystrcil, announce that Ukraine would lend the Czech Republic previously donated heavy military equipment to help with the massive flooding in the region? No, that's not true: Vystrcil never said that, and the post claiming that is a hoax, a spokeswoman for the senate, Andrea Kubova, wrote in an e-mail to Lead…

Can Ukrainians or U.S. soldiers stationed in Europe vote for the Czech municipal elections? No, that's not true: Only citizens of the European Union have the right to vote in municipal elections in any EU member state they reside in, under the same conditions as nationals of that country, according to the Charter of Fundamental Rights Of The European Union.…

Is there a serious problem with "massive" illegal fishing by Ukrainians in the Czech Republic? No, that's not true: data provided to Lead Stories from the national association about fishing activity in the country don't show anything like this. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on August 20, 2024. The caption of the video in…

Is corporal punishment the best way to establish parental authority and raise physically and psychologically resilient children? No, that's not true: Various studies have repeatedly shown that educational methods involving physical punishment have a negative impact on human development. The evidence also suggests that such methods do not reduce defiance or aggression and do not promote long-term positive behavior in…

Can unused ballots discarded at polling places be used to tamper with election results? No, that's not true: Voters can discard unused ballots in bins after casting their vote, but there is a safe system in place and several measures to prevent discarded ballots from being used in any illegal way, a spokesperson for the Czech Interior Affairs Ministry explained…

Does paying by card when traveling abroad protect Czechs from additional costs or Czech companies with euro bank accounts from currency exchange costs when exporting goods? No, that's not true: Payments by card abroad still involve transactional costs charged by banks or other providers, and for companies, to have a foreign currency account is also more expensive than having a…

Has Russia been accused by the Czech authorities, without any evidence, of being responsible for blowing up two ammunition depots in the Czech village of Vrbetice in 2014, killing two people? No, that's not true: After ten years of investigation, prosecutors stated that the number of pieces of evidence and their detailed evaluation sufficiently substantiate the conclusion that two Russian…

Did the Czech government coalition refuse to condemn the assassination attempt of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico? No, that's not true: All top government representatives condemned the act publicly, but the coalition lawmakers did not support an oppositional party proposal to include an extraordinary vote on condemning the act, during a parliamentary session. The claim appeared in a video (archived…

Did Czech President Petr Pavel say that the planned military logistic center in Mosnov, in the northeastern part of the Czech Republic, will serve as a base for foreign soldiers? No, it's not true: Mosnov, planned to be operational in seven years, will primarily serve the needs of the Czech army, as repeatedly stated by the Czech army and political…

Did Russia liberate most of the Czech Republic, compared to U.S. troops, whose credit for liberating the country from the Nazis is minimal? No, that's not true: The troops who liberated most of what is now the Czech Republic were Soviet, not just Russian, and included other nationalities, including Ukrainians, from what was then the Soviet Union. Also, U.S. troops…

Did the Czech president secretly send parts of the treasure of St. Vitus Cathedral to Germany, including the Coronation Cross of Bohemia, a relic from the 14th century and one of the most valuable items in the treasury? No, that's not true: Czech President Petr Pavel only ceremonially opened the exhibition in Dresden, but the treasure was lent by the…

Did the Czech President's and government's decision to procure ammunition for Ukraine from sources outside the European Union lead to the Czech Republic dropping from "fourth to twelfth place" in the ranking of the world's safest countries? No, that's not true: In the 2023 Global Peace Index, the country dropped from eighth place a year ago, to twelfth in 2023,…

Is a picture of Ivan Korcok, a pro-Western Slovak presidential candidate defeated by Peter Pellegrini in the April 6, 2024 runoff vote in Slovakia, holding on to George Soros' back, authentic? No, that's not true: The photo has been digitally altered. The original image was taken from Alexander Soros' social media account and shows him with his father, George Soros,…