Is the Czech Republic Falling Under Putin’s Shadow?

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Writing in Foreign Policy, journalist Peter Feaver argues that Russian influence is growing in the Czech Republic, with serious ramifications for the next election:

On Oct. 20, voters in the Czech Republic will go to the polls for Parliamentary elections. Opinion polls show that the anti-EU, anti-immigrant ANO party will win a convincing victory.

The Czech Republic has long been a bastion of pro-Western, liberal, tolerant, cosmopolitan pluralism. The Prague Spring of 1968 challenged Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and the Velvet Revolution of 1989 ended it.

Never one to forgive or forget, Russia has for the past 20 years pursued a single-minded yet sophisticated counterrevolutionary campaign to roll back the changes wrought by heroes such as Czech Nobel Laureate Vaclav Havel, the playwright-president. Their covert action aims to undermine public confidence in state institutions, weaken the rule of law, and put an end to the dream of a united Europe “whole and free.”

The Kremlin has achieved stunning successes. Britain voted to leave the EU. NATO ally Turkey is now installing Russia’s most sophisticated air defense system, not compatible with the Atlantic Alliance. Far-right movements have made historic gains in France and Germany. Russian fingerprints are all over the Catalan independence movement in Spain. Governments or politicians whose interests align more closely with Moscow than Brussels have taken power in Hungary, Serbia, Moldova, and Bulgaria.

In 2017, the Czech Republic risks becoming the latest in the ever-expanding club of oligarch-riddled regimes that Russia has helped engineer. The disruptive populism promoted by Andrej Babis, the leader of the ANO party and the putative prime minister, may make the Czech Republic the latest casualty in Putin’s relentless campaign to weaken the West from within.

Babis is a billionaire who owns Agrofert group, a conglomerate of more than 250 companies spanning chemicals, agriculture, and media, valued by Forbes magazine at $3.4 billion. He served as minister of finance from 2014 to 2017, when he was fired due to allegations of tax fraud. In addition, Parliament has recommended that he be prosecuted for EU subsidy fraud.

Despite these setback, or perhaps because of them, Babis has successfully positioned himself and ANO as outside disrupters who can “drain the swamp” in Prague and return power to the people. His record as a successful businessman and manager appeals to voters, as do his calls to curb immigration, impose fiscal discipline, and limit ties to Europe. Unfortunately, the line between public good for the Czech people and private gain for Babis becomes quickly blurred in ANO’s slick campaign marketing.

The party’s close association with the president of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, considerably strengthens the political fortunes of Babis and ANO. Zeman has supported Putin’s intervention in Syria and endorsed Russian actions in Eastern Ukraine. He defined the Ukrainian conflict as a civil war between rebels and the state, effectively denying any Russian aggression or military presence on Ukrainian soil. Zeman opposed EU sanctions on Russia, calling them “ineffective” and “stupid.”

Zeman’s ties to senior Kremlin figures and Russian oligarchs are no secret. He is a friend of Vladimir Yakunin, former director of Russian Railways, and the former high-ranking officer of the KGB. Martin Nejedly, the CEO of the Czech branch of the Russian energy firm Lukoil, is an official adviser to Zeman.

Zeman and Babis share a strong Eurosceptic streak. Despite proclaiming support for remaining in the EU and NATO, Zeman told Czech Radio that he “will do everything for [Czechs] to have a referendum and be able to express themselves” on membership in both organizations.

A determined and relentless Kremlin is systematically dismantling the security architecture of the post-Cold War international order. Nations that were once beacons of principled resistance to tyranny — first Hungary and now the Czech Republic, are succumbing to a new form of Russian power projection: weakening from within.

In this 21st-century assault on democratic values and Euro-Atlantic institutions, there are no invading troops or tanks. Rather, the forces of subversion are less visible and subtler. They are to be seen in corruption investigations that go nowhere, or independent newspapers that go out of business, or corporate mergers without a clear money trail.

Central Europe and the Balkans are slowly but surely slipping away from the West’s embrace. This is clearly not an accident, but can it be prevented?

The United States should be neither blind nor passive in the face of this danger. America and its European allies must resolutely resist Russia’s efforts to restore the Soviet sphere of influence to the countries once behind the Iron Curtain.

Hopefully, it is not too late. And here’s a prediction: Whither goes the Czech Republic, so goes the rest Eastern and Central Europe. If the heirs of Tomas Masaryk, Aleksander Dubcek, and Havel surrender the legacy of honor, integrity, principle, and freedom that these men of greatness bequeathed to them, the forces of darkness will have won a great and strategic victory.

Czech Leaders Battle Over Russia Sanctions

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Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka rebukes President Miloš Zeman Tuesday over reckless comments against EU Russia sanctions.

 

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka took to Twitter Tuesday to publicly scold President Miloš Zeman and reiterate that Mr Zeman’s Pro-Kremlin agenda is not supported by the Czech government.

 

 

During his address to the Council of Europe President Zemen fondly recalled his April 1999 speech to the COE. In which the then Prime Minister celebrated the Czech Republic’s freedom from totalitarian rule. Mr Zemen then shamelessly went on to dismiss Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea as a “fait accompli” suggesting Ukraine accept financial compensation over Russian withdrawal from Crimea.

 

The sanctions have hit Russian business interests hard, the recent banishment of Volga-Dnepr from future Pentagon contracts was especially damaging.

 

Perhaps if Mr Zemen spent more time recalling the history of the Czech Republic he would reconsider his current stance on Russian sanctions.

The Last Rebellion of Prime Minister Sobotka

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On the day the Czech Republic commemorates the May Uprising of the Czech People, Bohuslav Sobotka’s prime minister unleashed a conflict on the Czech political scene that he has not experienced yet. “Bohuslav Sobotka decided that he would make a hard fight against all. Not just to the president, “explains Sputnik, political analyst Štěpán Kotrba, of the last few hours.

Bohuslav Sobotka has taken his words back and will not serve the government’s demise. What do you think about it?

 

Well, obviously he wants to make Andrei Babiše the martyr and the winner of the parliamentary elections, as he once said. To say in the beginning that he is turning away Andrei Babiše was a strong gesture. It meant de facto terminating the government’s activities half a year before the elections with the departure of all YES ministers. Zeman said he would invite Babis and ask him if he wanted to be a martyr.

 

Andrej Babiš responded by pulling the horse on the E5 with the YES ministers remaining, even though he will be expelled from the government. Going alone refused. The martyr’s office was prepared by folding the office into paper crates. Sobotka pulled the king and announced that he did not want to make a martyr from Babis. That is why the whole government will resign.

 

Well, obviously he wants to make Andrei Babiše the martyr and the winner of the parliamentary elections, as he once said. To say in the beginning that he is turning away Andrei Babiše was a strong gesture. It meant de facto terminating the government’s activities half a year before the elections with the departure of all YES ministers. Zeman said he would invite Babis and ask him if he wanted to be a martyr.

Andrej Babiš responded by pulling the horse on the E5 with the YES ministers

 

remaining, even though he will be expelled from the government. Going alone refused. The martyr’s office was prepared by folding the office into paper crates. Sobotka pulled the king and announced that he did not want to make a martyr from Babis. That is why the whole government will resign.

The Prime Minister had gone after the president and hoped to convince him. He did not convince. He made his life harder and he was a jester. After a while, we all saw TV live. Today, the Prime Minister has returned to the appeal of Andrej Babiš. He had already been able to deliver the document at Castle. Babiše wants to appeal to 9 May on Victory Day. However, the coalition, according to Pavel Bělobrádek, will meet on Wednesday, one day later. In my opinion, then, I will follow the variant I mentioned in the previous interview with you.

Could you remind this reader?

 

The President will consider responding to this “without undue delay”. But he will consider it responsibly. Certainly he invites to the Castle as Andrei Babis to ask him about martyrdom. He will most likely invite the chairman of the KDU-ČSL again. Maybe also the pretenders for the position of the appointed prime minister from the CSSD. Then he goes to China. Along with him, half of the ministers flee to Beijing. Probably after the return, probably not until 18 May. The President’s spokesman has already confirmed this.

 

On the nervous cries of Bohuslav Sobotka, the Castle will respond by referring to the original intention of the Prime Minister to resign until mid-May. That is, “no rush”. According to the chairman of the KDU-ČSL, the situation can “sit down”. In the meantime, according to Bělobrádek, the duty of all members of the government to continue to work.

What’s the whole story?

 

In my opinion, this retrospective of the whole case shows that the Prime Minister shows the impulsivity and emotionality of his decision, the inability to proceed. He himself maneuvered himself into a situation where he has no other way out. This does not imply Sobotka’s judgments and the judgments of the whole conflict.

 

For three and a half years to attack Milos Zeman and sit with Babis in the government, for three and a half years to dismantle the plurality of opinions in the CSSD, then to morally outrage, to Babis, to resign, then not to appeal again, then to resign and not to give it. And finally, again to appeal – not to appeal. All too late, without media preparation, wider consent and consultation, alone. This is not the responsible Prime Minister.

 

If it happened in another country where the Prime Minister’s position was perceived as a determining factor, the crown-to-bottom rate would fall, and the state’s economy would turn to tragedy.

 

Fortunately, the Czech Stock Exchange is wiser than Sobotka. That is, in my opinion, what Sobotka Zeman has to say. Had the matter consulted with the President in advance, and he did not have a muscular speech at the microphone at first, without a solution, Zeman would probably have helped solve the situation even though he did not like it. He would look like a comic in front of the president, but not publicly.

 

But Sobotka had first decided to act as an adult, a mature man, then as a cautious tactician, and eventually as a crooked desperate. He lost the last remnants of respect and respect to the president. Milos Zeman is able to play chess and does not forgive any small mistakes, the less stupidity.

The recall of the constitutional crisis after a rather successful three-year rule with Andrej Babis is stupidity.

Does that mean Sobotka decided to go into a tough clash with the country’s president?

 

Bohuslav Sobotka has decided to go into a tough clash against everyone. Not only with the president. The threat of the demise of the government certainly did not impress any of the ministers. I ask you, who wants to be governed voluntarily with such a Prime Minister? Given that Sobotka is still not expected to win the next election, it is a handicap.

 

And I’m not talking about Babis’s tapping, from which the first deputy prime minister blames the already dismissed journalist Mafr Mark Pribil and a private agency with contacts at the UZSI (intelligence), mediated by the Interior Minister Chovance. And the Interior Minister obviously does not want to save the case.

Do you expect the government coalition to collapse?

 

The collapse of the coalition had already taken place. Although it is a government, in fact, economically successful, it is not a government that cooperates with the program, that is, the government of three separate entities that rule from reason, not from love or program proximity. The factual breakdown of the coalition, the fall of the government, and the interruption of the administration of the ministries in the middle of the year, no one wants economic judgment because it is half a year until the date of the ordinary elections.

 

A budget needs to be drawn up and projects and investments, especially those linked to European money, must be completed. It is nonsense to shorten the voting period by a month, even more nonsense is to make holiday choices. The desperate Prime Minister has made a series of desperate steps in an effort to strengthen his party’s support for voters. The strangers are now in a friction about him, perhaps he will support some of the undecided voters in the short term, but few can believe in his ability to stand.

 

The turn is Zeman . And Zeman does not seem to be unsuccessful. Sobotka took over the party with 25% support to the public, now the CSSD preferences are half. One of the oldest sides of the political spectrum is the fall trajectory. And that is tragic for Czech politics. The left-wing policy should be to maintain the stability of the country and not to let the left fall.