What Czechia Is Writing About: Government Will Limit Russian Diplomats. The Same Minister Failed to Agree on the Budget That Day and Gave an Interview to a Masked Man

Petr Macinka had a Thursday in which three tensions of Czech government politics converged. As foreign minister, he summoned the Russian ambassador and announced reciprocal restrictions for Russian diplomats. As chairman of Motoristé, he left the prime minister without a budget agreement. And as a protected person, he faced a video showing him, according to activists, sitting without security opposite a man in a balaclava. He himself claims his security did not fail.

Budget: Motoristé Demand Twenty Billion, Finance Minister Offers Single Digits

The most watched domestic topic of the day was the 2027 budget. Motoristé came to Thursday's meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš with proposals that according to them would reduce the deficit by twenty billion crowns. The agreement did not materialize, negotiations continue Monday morning and evening, and Macinka told journalists that the proposed deficit of 389 billion is very high and the party does not want just a cosmetic change. iROZHLAS ↗

Finance Minister Alena Schillerová after the same meeting said something different: cuts will be in single-digit billions. iROZHLAS ↗ The difference between twenty billion and single-digit billions is the entire dispute, not a detail. Ekonomický deník put it directly in the headline, Forum 24 summarized it as "Motoristé Failed to Protect the Budget Again". Forum 24 ↗

The sharpest criticism of Motoristé comes not from opposition politicians but from commentators and the former finance minister. Miroslav Kalousek on ČT24's Interview said that even if the deficit were reduced by forty billion, it would still be "monstrously and illogically high", and that it is too late to negotiate individual items because the budget is not put together when it is already on the table. ČT24 ↗ An iROZHLAS commentary noticed something that slipped through in news texts: Macinka shortly after calling the deficit very high praised Schillerová, saying she is doing good work and assembled a realistic budget. iROZHLAS ↗

Russian Diplomats: Prague Levels Conditions, Coalition Not Speaking With One Voice

After Germany officially attributed responsibility for the August attack on Leipzig-Halle airport to Russia, Macinka summoned Russian Ambassador Anna Ponomareva. He rejected her explanation that the accusations were provocation and announced that the Czech Republic would introduce reciprocal measures for Russian diplomatic and technical personnel — a response to recent tightening of conditions for the Czech mission in Moscow. iROZHLAS ↗

The Russian embassy responded by comparing the accusations to Vrbětice and calling them incitement of Russophobia. According to its statement, a Russian trace in Vrbětice was never proven. Czech authorities announced in April 2021 that personnel from Russian military intelligence GRU were involved in the munitions depot explosions from 2014. Forum 24 ↗

More interesting than the measure itself is that the coalition is not speaking with one voice on this. While Macinka for Motoristé summoned the ambassador, SPD MEP Ivan David the day before repeatedly downplayed the German investigation findings in a discussion program and speculated about "suspicious timing". Ondřej Knotek from ANO, that is from the strongest government party, opposed him. iDNES ↗

Read also: Berlin Blames Moscow for Sabotage After Leipzig Incident

Man in a Balaclava: Foreign Minister and Missing Security

The activist group Detektivní parta released on Thursday a video of an August interview that Macinka attended believing he was speaking with a publicist using the pseudonym Thomas Paukner. The man wore a balaclava. According to the group, the minister as a protected person downplayed security measures and his security did not notice replica weapons or fake explosives in the studio. ČT24 ↗

Macinka claims he knew about the deception and told journalists he is an open man willing to give interviews to both mainstream and alternative media. iDNES ↗ According to findings by Deník N, his security's conduct will be examined by the supervisory body of their unit. Deník N ↗

The difference in framing is greater here than in the budget. ČT24 and Seznam Zprávy presented it as a security incident being handled by the security service. iDNES emphasized that the minister "fell for a group of trolls". Aktuálně made a podcast from it asking whether the minister is in a troll trap, and Novinky responded with satire. The substantive core is what Deník N reports: the investigation was not launched by political dispute but by the service itself.

Court on Extremism: SPD Wins Non-final Ruling, No Apology

The District Court for Prague 7 on Thursday issued a non-final ruling that the Interior Ministry violated SPD's rights by including it in the extremism report for the first half of 2023. The court did not grant the movement an apology and the ruling can be appealed. Seznam Zprávy ↗

It is precisely in this second sentence that newsrooms diverge. Forum 24 put "Okamura Can Celebrate" in the headline, iDNES in contrast "The Movement Will Not Receive an Apology". The difference is not cosmetic: the movement's lawyer Adam Batuna according to CTK said that if Interior does not appeal, SPD will not appeal either. The movement simultaneously claims that in all cases heard it was confirmed that it is not a xenophobic populist or extremist party — a broader claim than what the court addressed. The rulings so far concerned inclusion in a specific report, not the nature of the party. The only final verdict came last October and concerned the report for the second half of 2020. Forum 24 ↗

Context appearing only marginally in the texts: the report in question was issued by the ministry under the previous government. SPD today sits in a government that inherited this dispute on the defendant's side.

Elections: New Movement of Regional Governors and a Senate ANO Has So Far Bypassed

Entering the municipal and Senate elections of October 9 and 10 is a new player. South Bohemian hejtman Martin Kuba presented the programmatic platform of the Naše Česko movement and announced it will go together with the MY movement of Pardubice hejtman Martin Netolický. They will run in 156 cities and towns, will field four people for the Senate. iDNES ↗

A more significant shift is on the government side. ANO is running in Senate elections alone in 24 of 27 districts, although at the beginning of the year there was consideration of joint coalition action. SPD has fielded seventeen own candidates and thus stands against ANO in fifteen districts. Motoristé are not running anywhere. ANO meanwhile is defending only one mandate. Forum 24 ↗ The Senate was until now a chamber that Andrej Babiš was more inclined to bypass than to campaign for. Respekt meanwhile writes that Miloš Vystrčil will likely remain its chairman even after October elections. Respekt ↗

Under the Radar

Head of environmental inspection denies accusations connected with relatives' case. Hospodářské noviny wrote about Pavel Straka's past, whom Motoristé pushed into the leadership of the Czech Environment Inspection. Straka denies he was involved in drug distribution in which his relatives participated, Environment Minister Igor Červený stands behind him and the opposition ODS demands his CV and details on the appointment. Seznam Zprávy ↗

Concession fees will not be abolished. MP Patrik Nacher admitted that the abolition from January 2027 will likely not happen and the deadline will be postponed at least a year. Government politicians repeatedly assured during the year that the original deadline stood. Novinky ↗

Teaching reform faces further delay. First-graders were to learn under new curricula from next September, Education Minister Robert Plaga postponed the deadline by a year after taking office and now the key team has fallen apart. Schools fear they will not have time to prepare. Hospodářské noviny ↗

Government failed to replace reporting judge. The Constitutional Court ruled that Pavel Šámal remains the reporting judge in proceedings on President Petr Pavel's competence complaint against the government.

Read also: Šámal Remains Reporting Judge in Pavel's Complaint Proceedings

Wages grew slower than thought. Data revision showed wage growth was lower than quarterly statistics reported. Average wage is 51,966 crowns and has still not caught up to the record year 2021. Ekonomický deník ↗

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