What the Czech Republic Writes About: Brussels Froze Agrofert Subsidies. On the Same Day, Babiš Accused Two Newsrooms of Representing the Opposition

The European Commission has temporarily stopped reimbursement of part of agricultural subsidies to companies from the Agrofert holding. This concerns 3.18 million euros, roughly 77 million crowns, and the Commission cited as its reason that it continues to investigate a possible conflict of interest involving Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. Almost all Czech newsrooms reported the story on Monday afternoon based on the same CTK dispatch, but differed in who they named in the headline.

One Dispatch, Six Different Headlines

The substantive core of the story was the same for everyone because it came from CTK. Eva Češpiva, spokeswoman of the State Agricultural Intervention Fund, confirmed that the measure concerns the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development for the second quarter and that payments from the second, guarantee fund continue without any restrictions. According to her, the Commission justified the step by saying it continues to investigate a possible conflict of interest involving the Prime Minister, who in February placed Agrofert shares in a trust fund RSVP Trust. iRozhlas ↗

The difference was in what newsrooms put in the headline. iRozhlas named both the sum and the reason at once, thus 77 million and investigation of conflict of interest. Forum 24 exchanged the holding's name for a person's name and wrote about subsidies to "Andrej Babiš's companies." Forum24 ↗

The furthest from the Prime Minister's name was Seznam Zprávy, which chose passive voice and a headline without any actor: reimbursement of part of the subsidies has been temporarily suspended. Who suspended it and for whom, the reader finds out only in the text. Seznam Zprávy ↗

Seznam found itself on the same day in the opposite role, namely as the subject of a story. At Monday's briefing after the government meeting, Babiš reopened the topic of headlines, which according to Forum 24 he does regularly, and declared: "Seznam Zprávy and Novinky should put in their headlines that they represent the opposition." He accused Seznam's owner Ivo Lukačovič of being afraid of his own editors. These are two separate events of one day and nothing suggests they are related. Passive voice is common when taking over an agency dispatch and the choice of headline tells nothing more than what is written in it. Forum24 ↗

Budget: Coalition Argues About Tens of Billions, Economist Speaks of Two Hundred

The ruling coalition continues negotiations on next year's budget, which Finance Minister Alena Schillerová submitted with a deficit of 389 billion crowns. Motoristé sobě and SPD are making clear that this is too much. iDNES ↗

The search for savings on Monday resembled more of a search for the culprit. The Prime Minister dislikes that the state subsidizes private and church schools that at the same time charge tuition from parents. Schillerová calculated annual costs at approximately 21 billion crowns and admitted that the sum could be reduced. Novinky ↗

Deník N summarized it as: Babiš knows how to make even boring budget negotiations into a suspenseful story about alleged spongers, unnecessary Cermat, or his own minister. The reference to the minister is apt, because the Prime Minister's idea to abolish Cermat was rejected by his own Minister of Education Robert Plaga on the grounds that it would not make sense, since the organization prepares tests for both entrance and final examinations. Deník N ↗

Tomio Okamura came to the negotiations with his own recipe. He wants the coalition to cut the deficit by eliminating all spending on aid to refugees from Ukraine. iDNES ↗

This proposal too divided Czech commentaries along editorial lines. Lidové noviny framed Okamura's demands for a lower deficit as rational in their commentary and rejected that it would be a contradiction. Lidové noviny ↗

Forum 24 labeled the same proposal as delusions about saving on Ukrainians and non-profits. Hospodářské noviny in turn called the entire negotiation a circus that might improve the reputation of Motoristé, but won't save domestic finances. Forum 24 ↗ Hospodářské noviny ↗

Economists entered this debate about tens of billions with a completely different order of magnitude. David Marek, Chief Economist of Deloitte, told Hospodářské noviny that every crown saved is good, but to maintain sustainable public finances it would be necessary to cut two hundred billion from the deficit. An iRozhlas commentary named it even more directly when it wrote that reducing the deficit by ten or twenty billion is not the path to consolidation. Hospodářské noviny ↗

On Fuel, the Government Will Not Intervene

The government decided on Monday that it will not cap the margins of fuel sellers. After the meeting, Babiš said that the Finance Ministry monitors them and that they are low, and blamed high fuel prices on growing refinery margins and their insufficient capacity. He wants to solve the situation at the European level. iRozhlas ↗

Opposition ODS leader Martin Kupka responded by claiming that the Prime Minister is obfuscating because he is aware that he cannot push through capping margins for refineries. Deník added a reminder of estimates according to which diesel could rise to as much as fifty crowns per liter. Deník ↗

Defence Minister Heads to Beijing, Army Chief Cannot Go to Kyiv Yet

The most remarkable event of the day took place outside major headlines. Miroslav Hlaváč, Chief of the General Staff and thus the highest-ranking military officer in the country, wanted to travel next week to the annual meeting of the YES security conference in Kyiv. According to the weekly Respekt, the Ministry of Defence, led by Jaromír Zůna of SPD, has not yet approved his trip, and he cannot travel without the minister's or deputy minister's approval. Respekt ↗

At the same time, the minister himself is planning a trip in the opposite direction, to the Xiangshan security forum in Beijing. This is an event to which Western countries typically send only observers, so according to Seznam Zprávy he would probably be the only defence minister from the Western community there. Seznam Zprávy ↗

At the briefing, Babiš said he did not know about the trip and the cabinet did not approve any flight. Zůna's expedition is missing from the list of government trips, which according to Aktuálně is probably because the minister is flying a commercial airline, so his office did not have to request an army jet. Aktuálně ↗

Under the Radar

Czech foreign trade ended July with a deficit of 8.5 billion crowns and it was the first month of this year when the balance fell into the red. Year-on-year, the deficit is five billion higher. According to the Czech Statistical Office, this was mainly caused by higher imports of computers, electronics and electrical equipment, but also trade in oil and natural gas, where the deficit widened by 3.7 billion. Novinky ↗

Minister of Environment Igor Červený of Motoristé sobě announced that toxic substances from military activity are leaking into the soil in part of Šumava National Park and are also contaminating the surroundings. According to him, the site is secured, and he promised details at Tuesday's press conference. Seznam Zprávy ↗

The minimum wage will rise in January by 2,500 crowns to 24,900, which is supposed to correspond to 44.6 percent of average wages. Hospodářské noviny added that the Czech minimum has the third weakest purchasing power in the European Union this year. Hospodářské noviny ↗

The ANO movement has meanwhile launched a campaign before the senate and municipal elections with the slogan that the Czech Republic will get back to work. Babiš admitted that the movement is doing poorly in Prague in the long term, although according to a recent poll it would win the municipal elections there. iDNES ↗

ODS leader Martin Kupka meanwhile urged the Prime Minister to call a meeting of political party leaders on security, using the image of burying the hatchet. The goal is to formulate a common position across both government and opposition. Lidové noviny ↗

Illustration photo: Strakova academy on Prague's waterfront, seat of the government of the Czech Republic. Photo by Miloslav Rejha, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

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