While Babiš Attacked Journalists, Tusk Gave a Lesson in Disinformation

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš once again publicly lashed out on Thursday at the journalist who exposed details of an influence operation aimed at undermining Czech-Polish relations. At issue is an attempt to spread the false claim that Poland was preparing to attack Czechia — a provocation that experts have linked to Russia.

"What episode? The editor of that lying outlet blew it out of proportion," Babiš said at a government press conference, publicly attacking the journalist over this story for the third time, though without ever naming him. Colleagues have noted that the summer episode clearly touched a nerve with the prime minister, and there are reasons to believe the provocation itself isn't the only thing bothering him.

The Prime Minister's Personal Motive

The journalist in question has spent months covering a subject deeply uncomfortable for Babiš: his systemic conflict of interest and the transfer of the Agrofert holding into a new trust fund. Back in February, previously hidden founding documents of the trust were published, proving that the prime minister's claims didn't hold up — Agrofert will pass under the control of his children not after Babiš's death, as he had claimed, but the moment he leaves government office.

Babiš denied these findings and downplayed their significance. Yet this very week brought significant news from Brussels: the European Commission carried out a legal assessment of the trust fund arrangement and concluded that it does not resolve the conflict-of-interest problem. According to the Commission, Babiš remains in a situation of potential conflict of interest, which is why a portion of subsidies to Agrofert companies has been suspended. So by publicly attacking "lying journalists," the prime minister is effectively targeting a reporter who has been systematically covering one of the most sensitive political issues for him.

How Tusk Responded

As for the Czech-Polish story itself: "People didn't even notice it. People aren't stupid. Nobody noticed it, the intelligence services didn't do their job," Babiš said before departing for the Visegrád Four meeting in Bratislava — simultaneously claiming the incident had been blown up into a scandal and criticizing the intelligence services for failing to inform him in time, even though, by his own account, there was no scandal to begin with.

Yet the success of a disinformation campaign isn't measured by whether it becomes the talk of the whole country: it's enough to sow distrust or stoke a smoldering conflict — or simply lay groundwork for the future. And contrary to what Babiš claimed, the provocation was noticed — not least by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Around the same time Babiš was attacking journalists, Tusk was recording a video for social media aboard a plane bound for Bratislava, holding up a toy mole he said was being delivered to Babiš.

"As you may recall, the Russians recently staged a provocation aimed at setting Czechs and Poles against each other — the claim that Poland wanted to attack Czechia. But both Czechs and Poles responded brilliantly and confirmed that we are friends, and nobody will drive a wedge between us," Tusk said in the clip.

The video can be called a textbook example of strategic communication — the very kind of thing Babiš claims Czechia doesn't need. Tusk didn't need a lengthy press conference or a lecture on hybrid threats: he used a symbol understood by both Czechs and Poles and delivered a simple message — we see what the Russians are trying to do, and we won't let them turn us against each other.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz