Czech president, who has Covid, meets ministerial candidates

Czech President Milos Zeman began a series of talks with 17 ministerial candidates of the incoming liberal-conservative cabinet on Monday - despite having the coronavirus.
Pirate Party leader Ivan Bartos was first up to meet the head of state at Lany Castle outside Prague. He has been tapped to take on the portfolio of regional development and digitalization.
There were no fundamental differences of opinion, the 41-year-old Bartos said following the meeting, adding that the topic of funding for affordable housing had come up.
Zeman met with the Czech Republic's new prime minister, Petr Fiala, on Sunday. In a bid to prevent transmission of the virus, he was in a transparent plastic box for that meeting and again for his appointments on Monday.
The future coalition of five parties has 108 of 200 seats in the Czech parliament following the October elections.
The outgoing government of populist multibillionaire Andrej Babis is still in charge until the new administration is sworn in. That is expected to happen in mid-December.