Babiš accuses opposition of stoking Czech public media protests

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš demanded that the opposition stop escalating tensions in society over the protests against the government's plans to reform the funding of public media. In response, opposition politicians put the blame on the coalition itself and the way it operates in the Chamber of Deputies.

In a post on the social network X, Babiš said that there is no war for independent media, no fight for democracy, and no nationalization of the media is being prepared. According to him, the opposition knows it is lying but is deliberately stirring up society anyway, calling for demonstrations and marches and putting people's health and safety at risk.

Christian Democrat MP Marian Jurečka asked why the coalition does not take up such a bill during parliament's normal working hours and instead does so at night. He compared it with the methods of the communist secret police, the StB, which took people from their homes at night. The allusion refers to the fact that the coalition pushed through a night-time debate on the law and its approval in the early morning hours, and that Babiš, according to the source, appears in the StB archives as an agent.

TOP 09 chairman Matěj Ondřej Havel said that the right to assemble and to express opinions freely is one of the highest values of democracy. He called on Babiš to stop the pressure and said the coalition's conduct in parliament, which he compared with Orbán's methods, is responsible for the escalation. He also spoke sharply about the prime minister's past.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz