What Czechia Is Writing About: Pavel Vetoed Laws, Budget Saved Only a Fraction of the Requested Cuts

President Petr Pavel vetoed two laws – one on civil servants, the other on stripping his own power to appoint and recall the heads of permanent missions to international organizations –, but at the same time signed the return of electronic sales records (EET) as well as a contentious amendment to the building act; Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macinka (Motoristé) promises that the Chamber of Deputies will override the veto. The governing coalition has agreed on the 2027 budget, though the deficit will fall by only "a few billion" compared to the originally proposed 389 billion, instead of the 20 billion demanded by Motoristé. The dispute is also spilling into defense, where the SPD failed to push through a proposal to cut 7.5 billion crowns from unlaunched investments, and former minister Jana Černochová (ODS) claims the government is "fooling itself" and doing nothing for defense. Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union address has further split Czech political camps, from Václav Klaus to MEP Jan Farský (STAN). Since then: the opposition Pirates movement is considering a constitutional complaint against the vetoed law, which the media have dubbed "Lex Revenge," and a number of experts are now also criticizing Ursula von der Leyen's plan to slow the development of the most advanced artificial intelligence models.

Pavel vetoed two laws, Motoristé promise to override them

President Petr Pavel decided on four measures at once on Thursday: he vetoed the law on civil servants as well as the amendment that would have stripped him of the power to appoint and recall the heads of permanent missions to international organizations, but signed the return of EET and the contentious amendment to the building act. iROZHLAS ↗ iDNES.cz ↗ Deník N framed the president's move as a defense of the institution – "My job is to protect the president's powers," it quoted Pavel on his vetoes. Deník N ↗ info.cz, by contrast, backed the move in a commentary, saying the president did well to "put a stop" to the government's attempt to curb officials' independence. info.cz ↗ Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macinka (Motoristé) called the veto of the civil servants law "logical and unsurprising" and signaled that the coalition will override it in the Chamber of Deputies. Aktuálně.cz added that while the opposition welcomes this veto, the coalition calls it an unnecessary and harmful step. Aktuálně.cz ↗ Pavel himself, according to Respekt, ultimately signed the contentious coalition amendment to the building act despite his own doubts about it. Respekt ↗ The media have dubbed the civil servants law "Lex Revenge" – according to Aktuálně.cz, Pavel based his veto in part on a European Commission recommendation to protect senior officials from political interference; the opposition, including the Pirates, has long criticized it as a threat to the professionalism of the civil service, and the Pirates are now also considering a constitutional complaint. Aktuálně.cz ↗

2027 budget: Motoristé wanted 20 billion in cuts, only a fraction went through

The governing coalition agreed on the 2027 budget on Thursday. According to Ekonomický deník, Motoristé originally demanded cuts of 20 billion crowns but ultimately achieved only a fraction of that amount. Ekonomický deník ↗ The budget deficit will thus fall by only "a few billion" from the originally proposed 389 billion, according to iROZHLAS, although the coalition promises to find up to 20 billion in additional savings by the end of the year. iROZHLAS ↗ According to Deník N, Babiš clearly rejected the SPD's demand for cuts to the defense and transport budgets, so the budget with its enormous deficit will not be shaken up substantially, and the changes will be only symbolic. Deník N ↗ E15 therefore summed up the whole deal critically – the coalition agreed on the budget, not on the cuts, and the enormous deficit will fall only marginally. E15 ↗

Defense dispute: Černochová talks of lying, SPD wanted to cut

Tensions are also spilling into the defense ministry. iROZHLAS reported a sharp exchange: former Defense Minister Jana Černochová (ODS) claims the government is "lying to itself" and in reality doing nothing for defense, while SPD MP Radek Koten counters that some planned purchases "don't make sense." iROZHLAS ↗ According to Ekonomický deník, Černochová also accuses SPD of having itself blocked in the past the very investments it now wants to cut. Ekonomický deník ↗ Ahead of Thursday's coalition council, SPD leader Tomio Okamura specifically proposed cutting 7.5 billion crowns from the defense budget for projects that have not yet started, Aktuálně.cz reported. Aktuálně.cz ↗ He did not succeed – "our coalition partners unfortunately refused to reduce arms spending," Okamura himself admitted after the talks, according to E15. E15 ↗ Forum24 added that Okamura's vision of army modernization takes billions away from soldiers and "throws in an apple" instead – that is, it is more a symbolic gesture than a real replacement. Forum 24 ↗ The military topic also intersects with the Šumava issue: according to Forum24, President Pavel stated regarding the chemical contamination there that "it is not within the army's power to dispose of all the substances" on its own, and that a specialized firm should take over from the soldiers. Forum 24 ↗

Von der Leyen's speech splits Czech camps

Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union address has split the Czech political spectrum across camps. Former President Václav Klaus called it "almost unbelievable," with statements "à la politburo," in comments to Lidové noviny. Lidovky.cz ↗ iROZHLAS, by contrast, featured a direct clash between two MEPs: Jan Farský (STAN) praised the speech as a clear vision, while independent MEP Ondřej Dostál rated it negatively, saying its economic results are "dismal." iROZHLAS ↗ At the opposite pole from Klaus stands TOP 09 chairman Matěj Ondřej Havel, who declared in a pre-election interview for iDNES that "united states, but European" is not a dirty phrase. iDNES.cz ↗ The speech also announced new rules for social media, whose draft (the EU Kids Act) the Commission presented the following day – according to Ekonomický deník, von der Leyen claims that "we are giving parents back control." Ekonomický deník ↗ MEP Tomáš Zdechovský (KDU-ČSL) picked up on the same topic, telling Forum24 that troll farms "are destroying democracy" and that a verified person should stand behind every social media account; he wants to raise the issue in the European Parliament. Forum 24 ↗ Ekonomický deník added another dispute related to the speech: von der Leyen proposed slowing the development of the most advanced artificial intelligence models due to safety risks, which Czech experts criticize – according to Milena Jabůrková of the Confederation of Industry, "Europe today really doesn't have a problem with innovating too fast, quite the opposite," and lawyer Jiří Hradský called the push for regulation "somewhat misguided," since AI is developing outside the EU. Ekonomický deník ↗

Under the radar

Polls ahead of the municipal and Senate elections on October 9 and 10 suggest movement between parties. Forum24, citing a new Ipsos electoral model for Moravec.cz, reports that five parties would make it into the Chamber of Deputies, ANO retains first place, and STAN is widening its lead over ODS. Forum 24 ↗ Seznam Zprávy, drawing on the same model, highlights that STAN's growth was confirmed by another poll, and that Motoristé would stay outside the Chamber of Deputies with 4.5%. Seznam Zprávy ↗ Respekt cited the same figures: ANO would win the election (31.4%) ahead of STAN (16.6%) and ODS (14%), while Motoristé would not make it in. Respekt ↗ Meanwhile, according to Aktuálně.cz, a new majority of ANO representatives and allies has formed on the Council of Czech Television, which by the narrowest possible margin re-elected Karel Novák as chairman. Aktuálně.cz ↗ In addition, the European Commission will not yet reimburse the Czech Republic for part of the agricultural subsidies for the Agrofert holding, amounting to 77 million crowns – iROZHLAS explained that two of the projects fall within Babiš's pre-premiership era, while the rest consists of so-called non-project payments for above-standard farming. iROZHLAS ↗ Deník N added a look at the Senate to the polls: there ANO is defending only a single seat, in Karviná, where Ondřej Feber is not running, but if the movement strengthens its position before 2028, ahead of the end of the terms of four other club senators, it could, according to the paper, in an "extreme case" help it gain control of the entire upper chamber. Deník N ↗ At a pre-election rally in Havířov, Babiš was also reminded of his own 2017 statement that "MPs' immunity is an anachronism" – according to Aktuálně.cz, the prime minister responded with a quote from former President Zeman, "only a fool never changes his mind," adding that he had since become convinced of how corruption works in the judiciary. Aktuálně.cz ↗

What hotinfo is watching

Whether the Chamber of Deputies actually overturns Pavel's veto of the civil service law, and when the vote on it will take place.

What specific cuts from the originally requested 20 billion will ultimately make it into the final 2027 budget proposal by the end of the year.

How the dispute between SPD and ODS over the defense budget will continue to develop, and who will ultimately carry out the remediation of the contaminated site in Šumava.

How the polls, which show STAN growing and Motoristé remaining below the threshold for election, will ultimately play out in the municipal and Senate elections on October 9 and 10.

Whether the change of majority on the Council of Czech Television following Karel Novák's re-election will affect the planned layoffs and direction of the public broadcaster.

How the conflict-of-interest dispute surrounding Agrofert will develop after the European Commission refused, for now, to reimburse part of the agricultural subsidies.