What Czechia Is Writing About: Survey in Šumava found no chemical warfare agents. A Motorists MP had previously reported mustard gas

In the former military area of Dobrá Voda in the Klatovy region, there are, according to figures presented by Environment Minister Igor Červený, around two hundred barrels of toxic substances, a dozen large-capacity containers and about one thousand tonnes of contaminated soil. However, the survey did not confirm the presence of chemical warfare agents, which Motorists MP Filip Turek had spoken of on Monday evening, said the Státní úřad pro jadernou bezpečnost, which also oversees compliance with the ban on chemical weapons in Czechia. Czech newsrooms were thus dealing with two stories at once on Tuesday: the real environmental burden and the way government politicians communicated about it.

Three versions in one evening: How Turek changed his account of what is leaking in Šumava

The first mention came from Environment Minister Igor Červený of Motorists sobě on Monday afternoon after a government meeting, when he announced that toxic substances from the army’s past activities were leaking into the soil in Šumava National Park. He promised further details at a Tuesday press conference.

Later on Monday evening, Motorists MP and honorary president Filip Turek took up the issue on X. According to Seznam Zpráv’s reconstruction, he began with mustard gas, then after some time corrected it to phosgene, and before midnight published a third version, writing that lethal chemical weapons were not leaking, but rather substances that could under certain circumstances turn into phosgene. Seznam Zprávy ↗

Tuesday’s press conference then brought specific figures. In the former military area of Dobrá Voda in the Klatovy region, on an area the size of two football pitches above the Křemelná River canyon on the border between the municipalities of Prášily and Čachrov, the Dekonta survey found one thousand tonnes of contaminated soil and, underground, around two hundred barrels and a dozen large-capacity containers with liquid contents. Following chemical exercises by the Czechoslovak army, the site contains arsenic, mercury, dioxins, furans and chlorinated solvents. iDNES ↗

Remediation is due to begin at the end of September and last until June 2028. Červený described the find as a natural disaster. Aktuálně ↗

However, the decisive statement came from elsewhere that afternoon. On its website, the Státní úřad pro jadernou bezpečnost said that Dekonta’s survey work to date had detected no substances historically used as chemical weapons — neither mustard gas nor sarin — and that no containers of phosgene had been found at the site either. iRozhlas ↗

According to Novinky, the Environment Ministry confirmed this, but added that the contents of some barrels may resemble warfare agents. The army will assist with decontamination because of unexploded ammunition. Novinky ↗

Commentaries by two newsrooms agreed that the day’s second issue was the communication itself. A Seznam Zpráv commentator wrote that Turek is not a serious source of verified information, even when it comes to less dramatic reports. In a commentary, Deník N conceded that there was no reason to doubt the minister’s claim that dangerous substances are present in the park, but said the chosen form still defies common sense. Deník N ↗

Experts particularly pointed to uncertainty in assessing the risk. Physical chemist Petr Slavíček of the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, told Deník N that the published information was so general that the degree of risk could not yet be determined. A contamination specialist summed it up in an interview with Seznam Zprávy by saying that this was no Chernobyl, but he would not go to the site without an explosives expert. Deník N ↗ Seznam Zprávy ↗

The prime minister also weighed in. According to Deník N, Andrej Babiš said that only Minister Červený should speak for the ministry, and the same newsroom reported that he also reprimanded Turek directly. Deník N ↗

Who surveyed the site and who was paid for it

The second layer of the story concerns who commissioned the site survey. The Motorists accuse their predecessors at the ministry of inaction, but Deník N says documents it has seen show that earlier surveys and clean-up work had been carried out at the site. The same newsroom also writes that the ministry commissioned this year’s survey from a company closely linked to Klára Sovová, leader of the Motorists’ Prague candidate list. The connection itself, however, does not prove preferential treatment in the contract award. Deník N ↗

In a commentary, Deník N also raised the question of whether publicising a problem known for years was intended to divert attention from the party’s own missteps. This is the commentator’s hypothesis, not a substantiated claim. Deník N ↗

The local perspective was provided by Hartmanice Mayor Pavel Valdman, who told Aktuálně that he could not understand how such substances could have remained unnoticed at the site for decades and that they might have lain there for fifty years. Aktuálně ↗

Hospodářské noviny placed the case in a broader context. According to the newspaper, Czechia has hundreds or thousands of contaminated sites, many of which have not been investigated at all, so Dobrá Voda is not an exception but one of many legacies of the military and industry. Hospodářské noviny ↗

Commission: Babiš remains in a potential conflict of interest

Following Monday’s report that payments had been suspended, the Commission issued its own statement on Tuesday. Spokeswoman Louise Bogeyová said that, after a thorough assessment, the Commission had concluded that the Czech prime minister is in a potential conflict of interest and that the trust fund does not adequately resolve the situation. Blesk ↗

Read also: What Czechia Is Writing About: Brussels froze Agrofert subsidies. Babiš accused two newsrooms on the same day

Babiš responded by saying that the Commission’s position on his conflict of interest did not concern him and that he was not dealing with it. He repeated that he does not own Agrofert, will never own it again and derives no benefit from it. Deník ↗

In their reactions, the opposition referred to the prime minister’s promise to the president. Former Pirates chairman Ivan Bartoš told reporters that Babiš had lied to Petr Pavel and the nation when he said he would irrevocably divest himself of Agrofert, and that the current situation is the same as under Babiš’s previous governments until 2021. Mayors and Independents called for Czechia to stop drawing subsidies for Agrofert immediately. Deník ↗

Prague Castle chose more restrained wording. According to Lidové noviny, it said that a solution must be found for which neither citizens nor the republic itself would have to pay. Lidové noviny ↗

iRozhlas drew attention to the budgetary dimension, saying that Czechia risks a hit to its budget because Brussels may seek repayment of money already paid out. iRozhlas ↗

Chamber approves stripping the president of a power; opposition heads to the Constitutional Court

Tuesday’s vote brought a change that extends beyond a single electoral term. The Chamber of Deputies overrode the Senate’s veto and again approved a new Civil Service Act, which is to replace the current service law from November. Coalition sponsors say it will make it easier to replace civil servants and bring the rules governing their employment closer to the Labour Code; opponents in the Senate and the parliamentary opposition warned of the politicisation and destabilisation of public administration. iRozhlas ↗

The second part of the package directly affected the president. ANO, SPD and Motorists sobě approved limiting his powers to appoint and dismiss heads of permanent missions to international organisations, with that power to transfer to the foreign minister. TOP 09 chairman Matěj Ondřej Havel said the attempt to limit the president could be unconstitutional. Lidové noviny ↗

E15 added that Prague Castle objected to the restriction and that the opposition and senators intend to challenge part of the changes before the Constitutional Court. The law also still awaits the president’s signature, so the vote has not ended the dispute. E15 ↗

Two Prague polls, different favourites

A month before the municipal elections, which take place in Prague on 9 and 10 October, two agencies published conflicting results. According to an Ipsos poll, Spolu pro Prahu would win the Prague assembly election with 23 per cent, followed by the STAN movement with 17.9 per cent and ANO with 17.6 per cent. Aktuálně ↗

A Median poll for the PrahaIN.cz website produced the reverse order. ANO would win with 23.3 per cent, narrowly ahead of STAN on 22.6 per cent, while the Spolu pro Prahu coalition would fall to just under 14 per cent. The difference between the two models for Spolu is 9.1 percentage points — more than the entire share of some smaller parties. Forum 24 ↗

One detail from the agencies’ own reports is worth noting when reading both sets of figures. The Ipsos poll, in which Spolu leads, was commissioned by Spolu, and data were collected in August. Median collected data from 31 August to 3 September. The polls therefore had different commissioners and collection periods. Without comparing their methodologies, it is impossible to determine what caused the difference or which model is closer to reality. Political scientist Petr Jüptner conceded in an interview with Seznam Zprávy that preferences may still change in the final stage of the campaign. Seznam Zprávy ↗

Under the radar

Czech Radio Director General René Zavoral said at a Tuesday debate in the European Parliament that the Czech government wants to weaken public-service media and push them into a corner. He was commenting on the government’s plan to abolish television and radio licence fees and fund both Czech Radio and Czech Television from the state budget. The proposal, approved by the cabinet in mid-June, gives both outlets about fifteen per cent less money and would reduce their combined budgets by 1.4 billion crowns, which both institutions say will lead to 450 to 700 of their 4,250 employees being laid off. Forum 24 ↗

Mortgage rates in Czechia rose for the sixth consecutive month. According to the Swiss Life Hypoindex, the average advertised rate climbed to 5.51 per cent in September, its highest level since summer 2024; this is an increase of 0.62 percentage points from the March low of 4.89 per cent. Analysts do not expect a broad return of rates below five per cent. Seznam Zprávy ↗

In Židlochovice in the Brno region, four people withdrew from the originally fifteen-member candidate list of the Lepší Židlochovice movement immediately after it was published. Three women say someone forged their signatures and that they did not know they were running; a fourth, a man, says he did not realise exactly what he was signing. Police are already investigating the case. iRozhlas ↗

Tuesday was an exceptionally hot September day in Czechia. According to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, temperature records for 8 September were broken at 127 of 171 stations operating for at least thirty years, while the high of 33.5 degrees was recorded at the South Moravian stations of Brod nad Dyjí and Dyjákovice, as well as at Doksany in the Ústí Region. iRozhlas ↗

The Česmad Bohemia association of road hauliers described fifty crowns per litre of diesel as a threshold that would pose a problem for a significant share of carriers, and proposed cutting excise duty or introducing so-called professional diesel. The government is not yet planning to reduce excise duty on fuel. iDNES ↗

Illustrative photo: The confluence of the Vydra and Křemelná rivers in Šumava National Park. Photo: Jarba, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

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