What the Czech Republic is writing about: Macinka receives an ultimatum from Babiš, Minister Tejc faces criticism over instructions to prosecutors

Motorists chairman Petr Macinka has reportedly received an ultimatum from Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, according to the Aktuálně.cz podcast “Tady končí sranda!”, to stop escalating the dispute with Prague Castle, while political scientist Aleš Michal told iROZHLAS that Babiš’s long-term strategy could be described as a tendency to “suck out” smaller coalition partners. Former Supreme State Prosecutor and current Motorists MP Renata Vesecká dismissed criticism of Tejc’s instructions to prosecutors as “a complete misunderstanding of the position of the state prosecution service”, while ANO MP Radek Vondráček defended less prosecution of “controversial statements” using the SPD case itself as an example. Police have accepted a criminal complaint concerning the contaminated site in Šumava, where a military survey begins on Wednesday, although Chief of the General Staff Miroslav Hlaváč warned MPs that soldiers would not be able to handle the remediation on their own. The Finance Ministry is preparing a 2027 budget with a deficit of CZK 389 billion, which is unpopular with both the opposition and coalition partners. Since then, three things have been added: opposition MP Petr Bendl is asking Environment Minister Igor Červený to explain the Šumava contract, SPD chairman Tomáš Okamura has proposed cutting CZK 7.5 billion from the defence budget, and Motorists’ largest sponsor Jiří Vlk is facing a case involving an illegal building as well as illegal flights.

Macinka receives an ultimatum as Prague Castle continues to elude Babiš

According to the latest episode of the Aktuálně.cz podcast “Tady končí sranda!”, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš indicated to Motorists chairman Petr Macinka that his escalation of the dispute with Prague Castle had gone far enough — Macinka could thus lose the sharpest ammunition he had in the dispute with President Pavel. Aktuálně.cz ↗ Political scientist Aleš Michal of Charles University’s Faculty of Social Sciences placed this in a broader pattern: Babiš’s “tendency to suck out” coalition partners is, in his view, a long-standing habit that has not always paid off. iROZHLAS ↗ According to Aktuálně.cz, Babiš publicly said that “the time had come” for Macinka to meet President Pavel, which should take place before the minister travels to New York for the UN General Assembly — if it does not happen, ANO is signalling that the Motorists will have less say in negotiations over next year’s budget. Aktuálně.cz ↗ Denník N recalled that, according to some polls, five opposition parties could together outweigh Babiš with Okamura and Macinka, while both ANO and the Motorists have been losing support in recent figures. Deník N ↗ In Prague’s municipal elections, according to an exclusive NMS poll for Novinky, STAN is being considered by the largest number of people, although they are mostly hesitant supporters, while ANO has a smaller but more loyal group of voters. Novinky ↗ According to a supplementary poll by the same agency for Forum24, 46.2% of surveyed Prague residents are considering STAN, 36.8% the SPOLU coalition and 27.1% ANO, suggesting that opposition groupings will be taking votes from one another. Forum 24 ↗

Šumava: criminal complaint, army and Černochová’s criticism

Police have accepted a criminal complaint concerning the contaminated site near Zhůří in the Klatovy region, which they are investigating on suspicion of negligent endangerment of the public and environmental damage, according to a statement on X. Lidovky.cz ↗ Novinky added that the case had been taken over by the criminal police and was still under investigation. Novinky ↗ Forum24 recalled that Prime Minister Babiš announced on Monday that the army would be deployed for the remediation, but on Tuesday Chief of the General Staff Miroslav Hlaváč warned MPs on the parliamentary defence committee that soldiers could not clean up the environmental burden themselves and that a specialised company would ultimately still be needed. Former Defence Minister Jana Černochová (ODS) therefore considers involving the army in the survey itself sensible, but called long-term remediation by the army questionable: “The army is not a remediation company.” Forum 24 ↗ The contract, worth almost CZK 192 million, was originally supposed to go to private company Dekonta, linked to Motorists’ Prague leader Klára Sovová, but the government suspended the commission and Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna (SPD) confirmed that the army would initially carry out only reconnaissance and chemical surveying. Opposition MP Petr Bendl (ODS) is asking Environment Minister Igor Červený (Motoristé) for an explanation: he announced the contract on 8 September with remediation due to begin as early as 21 September, although the law requires a minimum 30-day tender for above-threshold contracts, and Dekonta is linked to Klára Sovová, whose stake in the holding had meanwhile risen from 4 to 7.5%; Minister Igor Červený maintains that Dekonta is the only company authorised to carry out the remediation, but Bendl says this is contradicted by a list of other companies with the same authorisation published by iROZHLAS. Forum 24 ↗

Motorists’ largest sponsor faces cases involving an illegal building and illegal flights

Businessman Jiří Vlk, whose companies have so far given the Motoristé sobě movement more than any other sponsor — CZK 3.2 million — is facing several proceedings at once. Since January 2024, the building authority in Prague’s Kunratice district has been dealing with the removal of a hangar and concrete surface he built on his land without permission, and in July it banned him from using the illegal structure. The Civil Aviation Authority is also examining take-offs from the site on suspicion of violating the safe distance from people and has already imposed a fine of CZK 50,000, while according to Seznam Zprávy, Vlk’s company offers sightseeing flights without authorisation for commercial air transport and Vlk himself does not hold a pilot’s licence for commercial flights. Seznam Zprávy ↗ Vlk previously stood as a Motorist candidate for the Chamber of Deputies and has a final conviction for armed extortion, in addition to older convictions.

Minister Tejc under fire: misunderstanding versus defence of freedom of expression

Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc’s letter to the Supreme State Prosecutor on the government’s priorities in criminal policy — less prosecution of “controversial statements” and more appeals against disproportionately low sentences for violent and sexual offences — raised doubts about whether the government was interfering with the independence of the state prosecution service. Former Supreme State Prosecutor and current Motorists MP Renata Vesecká rejected this in an interview with iROZHLAS: “It is a complete misunderstanding of the position of the state prosecution service.” iROZHLAS ↗ ANO MP Radek Vondráček defended the government’s approach on Interview ČT24, stressing the primacy of freedom of expression and calling the recent SPD case “nonsense”: the party had initially been prosecuted for incitement to hatred over pre-election posters with anti-immigration themes and was ultimately acquitted on appeal. According to Forum24, he also mentioned former Supreme State Prosecutor Igor Stříž as an example of the tendency to prosecute verbal offences. Forum 24 ↗

State finances: budget, private schools and cuts to inclusion

Finance Minister Alena Schillerová (ANO) is proposing a 2027 budget with a deficit of CZK 389 billion, which according to iHNed is disliked by both the opposition and coalition partners, and the budget will still be changed. iHNed.cz ↗ In a commentary, iHNed added that the “budgetary giant” continues to grow and Schillerová will have to decide which chapters to feed and which to put on a diet. iHNed.cz ↗ The savings were also supposed to include billion-crown cuts in funding for private and church schools. Prime Minister Babiš initially hinted at limiting them, but after a wave of discontent, according to Deník, clarified that he was not planning across-the-board cuts — private secondary schools account for a quarter of all secondary schools in the country. Deník ↗ Minister Boris Šťastný (Motoristé) also wants to limit spending on inclusive education as part of the savings, which Pirates MP Andrea Hoffmannová criticises: “If we save money on inclusion or on helping children with special needs, society will pay a much higher price.” Motorists MP Miroslav Krejčí counters that the proposal does not reduce the quality or scope of the services provided. iROZHLAS ↗ Tensions also concern the defence budget — while SPD deputy chairman Radim Fiala told Novinky on Monday that cuts were not on the table and that the party was only preparing an analysis, Novinky ↗ SPD chairman Tomáš Okamura has now specifically proposed cutting Defence Ministry spending by CZK 7.5 billion on projects that have not yet begun. Lidovky.cz ↗ The government coalition itself was due to discuss the proposed CZK 389 billion deficit and pension increases today. iDNES.cz ↗

Von der Leyen delivers State of the Union address, Czech politicians are ambivalent

In Strasbourg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her annual State of the Union address, announcing, among other things, that the EU would propose banning social media for children under 13 and imposing significant restrictions on minors under 18. Deník ↗ According to ČT24, some Czech politicians found the speech lacking in concrete solutions — MEP Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová (ANO) said von der Leyen was “pushing the EU towards a federation”, while opposition politicians praised the emphasis on competitiveness, security and the Union’s position in the world. ČT24 ↗ MEP Danuše Nerudová admitted disappointment: “Čekala jsem více,” and according to Ekonomický deník, other Czech MEPs were similarly sceptical, saying they had not learned how the EU would specifically improve people’s lives. Ekonomický deník ↗ ANO MP Radek Vondráček called on people on X to watch von der Leyen’s “party-congress speech” as an explanation of “why traditional parties are in crisis”, without saying what specifically bothered him about it — Forum24 commentator Jan Jandourek criticised him for “taking on a task beyond his abilities” in assessing the speech and called ANO “a one-man vehicle”. Forum 24 ↗

Under the radar

Three people detained in the case involving public contracts at the Central Military Hospital in Prague have been released, but the investigation continues. iROZHLAS ↗ Seznam.cz prevailed in court in a dispute with MP Filip Turek (Motoristé) — he claimed that the company was violating the confidentiality of correspondence in an email inbox, but failed to provide evidence and must apologise. Živě.cz ↗ In Prague’s municipal campaign, a spokesperson for Praha Sobě leader Adam Scheinherr drew attention to the traffic offences of rival politicians — Spolu coalition leader Tomáš Portlík riding a scooter in a bus lane and ANO’s mayoral candidate Jan Hušbauer driving in the wrong direction. Novinky ↗ Czech Television plans to dismiss up to 350 people by 2030 and cut its programme production budget by a quarter, yet the ČT Council approved a half-year bonus worth five times Director General Hynek Chudárek’s monthly salary. E15 ↗ According to the head of the Interior Ministry’s elections department, 23 days remain until the election; 14,500 polling stations and 13 million ballot papers will be ready, and commission members will receive higher remuneration. iDNES.cz ↗

What hotinfo is watching

Whether Babiš will really stop escalating the dispute with Prague Castle after Macinka’s ultimatum, or whether the Motorists will continue without the prime minister’s support.

What result Wednesday’s military chemical survey of the contaminated site in Šumava will produce and who will ultimately receive the remediation contract.

How the criminal complaint over the contamination in Šumava will develop and whether it will result in charges against a specific person or company.

How Minister Tejc will respond to criticism from Vesecká and the opposition, and whether the government will revise its instructions to prosecutors.

What form the 2027 budget will ultimately take after comments from the opposition and coalition partners, particularly regarding the funding of private schools and defence.

How ANO and the Motorists’ falling preferences, as well as the case surrounding Adam Scheinherr and his rivals, will be reflected in the municipal and Senate elections on 9 and 10 October.