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 him of his power to appoint and recall the heads of permanent missions to international organizations – but at the same time signed the return of electronic sales registration (EET) as well as a controversial amendment to the building act; Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macinka (Motoristé) promises that the Chamber of Deputies will override the veto. The governing coalition agreed on the budget for 2027, but the deficit will fall by only "a few billion" compared to the originally proposed 389 billion, instead of the 20 billion Motoristé had demanded. The dispute is also spilling over into defense, where the SPD failed with its proposal to cut 7.5 billion crowns from investments that have not yet begun, and former defense minister Jana Černochová (ODS) claims the government is "lying to itself" and doing nothing for defense. Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union address, meanwhile, divided the Czech political camps, from Václav Klaus to MEP Jan Farský (STAN).

Pavel vetoes two laws, Motoristé promise to override

On Thursday, President Petr Pavel decided on four pieces of legislation at once: he vetoed the law on civil servants as well as an 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 as well as a controversial 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 powers of the president," it quoted Pavel as saying about 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 limit the independence of officials. info.cz ↗ Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macinka (Motoristé) called the veto of the civil service law "logical and unsurprising" and signaled that the coalition would 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 move. Aktuálně.cz ↗ Pavel himself, according to Respekt, ultimately signed the controversial coalition amendment to the building act despite his own doubts about it. Respekt ↗

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

Dispute over defense: Černochová speaks of lies, SPD wanted to cut

Tension is also spilling over into the defense department. iROZHLAS reported a sharp exchange: former defense minister Jana Černochová (ODS) claims the government is "lying to itself" and is in fact 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 held up in the past the investments it now wants to cut. Ekonomický deník ↗ Ahead of Thursday's coalition council, SPD chairman Tomio Okamura specifically proposed cutting 7.5 billion crowns from the defense budget from projects that have not yet begun, Aktuálně.cz reported. Aktuálně.cz ↗ He did not succeed – "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 would take billions away from soldiers and "add an apple" in return – meaning it is more of a symbolic gesture than a real replacement. Forum 24 ↗ The military topic also intersects with Šumava: according to Forum24, President Pavel said 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 company should therefore take over from the soldiers. Forum 24 ↗

Von der Leyen's speech divides Czech camps

Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union address divided the Czech political spectrum across camps. Former president Václav Klaus called it "almost unbelievable" in remarks to Lidové noviny, with statements "à la politburo." Lidovky.cz ↗ iROZHLAS, by contrast, presented a direct clash between two MEPs: Jan Farský (STAN) praised the speech as a clear vision, while non-attached MEP Ondřej Dostál rated it negatively, saying her economic results were "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 word. iDNES.cz ↗ The speech also announced new rules for social networks, whose draft (the EU Kids Act) the Commission presented the following day – according to Ekonomický deník, von der Leyen claims "we are giving parents back control." Ekonomický deník ↗ MEP Tomáš Zdechovský (KDU-ČSL) picked up on the same theme, 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 ↗

Under the radar

Polls ahead of the municipal and Senate elections on October 9 and 10 point to movement between the parties. Citing a new electoral model by the Ipsos agency for Moravec.cz, Forum24 reports that five parties would make it into the Chamber of Deputies, with ANO holding onto first place and STAN extending its lead over ODS. Forum 24 ↗ Seznam Zprávy, drawing on the same model, highlights that another poll confirmed the growth of the STAN movement, and that Motoristé, at 4.5%, would remain outside the Chamber of Deputies. Seznam Zprávy ↗ Respekt took over the same figures: the election would be won by ANO (31.4%), ahead of STAN (16.6%) and ODS (14%), while Motoristé would fail to make it in. Respekt ↗ Meanwhile, according to Aktuálně.cz, a new majority of ANO representatives and allies has formed on the Czech Television Council, re-electing Karel Novák as chairman by the narrowest possible margin of votes. Aktuálně.cz ↗ In addition, the European Commission has not yet reimbursed the Czech Republic for part of the agricultural subsidies for the Agrofert holding, worth 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 ↗

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