Czech Republic

Thirty years after the Velvet Revolution, the atmosphere in Czech society is poisonous. Many who followed the course of the Czech presidential elections during the past few weeks in detail must feel they are trapped in a nightmare.

The Czech election results are a source of considerable concern. Nevertheless, it is worth taking a differentiated look at them and not panicking about warnings that all of Central Europe is bidding farewell to the principles of liberal democracy.

Orbán tries to destroy Germany’s positive image in Central Eastern Europe, depicting Germany as the capital of the decadent, liberal, pro-immigration EU that is doomed to fail. Tolerating such a behaviour would be a huge long-term strategic mistake for Germany.

The government accepted the result with disappointment, while many in opposition saw it as an inspiration. Yet the post-Brexit debate might just as well be an opportunity to anchor the Czech Republic more deeply in the European Union.

Czech society is polarised by attitudes to refugees. This is absurd given that fact that only 1,156 have applied for asylum in a country of ten million people. Xenophobia and hysteria drive the debate.

It remains to be seen whether the majority decision on the redistribution of 120,000 refugees was a clever move. In Central Eastern Europe, the voices against the “dictate of the majority” cannot be ignored.

A special EU summit of heads of state and government will take place on 23 September. After years of neglect, however, a solidary EU refugee policy cannot be elaborated in summary proceedings and under pressure. A commentary by Eva van de Rakt.

After images of Budapest’s Keleti train station illustrating the need for a fast EU assistance programme for refugees: the governments of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia reaffirmed their vehement “no” to refugee quotas.

On 29 January, Bohuslav Sobotka’s government was appointed by President Miloš Zeman. In contrast to Austria and Germany, the Czech president exercised much greater influence on the formation of the government, and process was clouded by an institutional controversy over the role of the head of state.

It ist the worst result of an election winner in Czech history. Almost all established parties recorded losses and voter turnout was one of the lowest since 1989.

In an interview, political scientist Vladimíra Dvořáková of the University of Economics, Prague, enumerates the causes of the current turbulence on the Czech political scene.

A few months after Miloš Zeman first took office as president, we are now seeing the logical outcome of introducing a semi-presidential system. The current clash between the president and the Czech Parliament is a direct result of the political redistribution of power and could significantly influence the future form of the relationships between the government, the parliament, and the president.

On Wednesday, the 7th August, the Czech government loses the confidence vote in parliament. True victor of the battle for power is President Miloš Zeman because he has created a very strong power center and is now dominating the political space.

The political crisis in the Czech Republic, which led to the fall of the government, was triggered by police investigation. The prosecution of three former MPs in the country triggered heated debates and reactions.

Germany resolved to go down the path of its energy transition – the Energiewende. But it became clear very quickly at the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s two-day conference entitled “Energiewende – Think European!” in Berlin, there’s a lot of skepticism about and even deep-seated resentment toward Germany’s energy policies. Poles and the French, Czechs and Brits, in fact most of the EU27, are not on the same page as Germany.