Around 70,000 people gathered in Vaclavske Square in Prague, the capital of Czechia, to protest against the government. Some opposition parties and many non-governmental organizations supported the protest.
Former Chamber of Agriculture President Zdenek Jandejsek, Energy Expert Vladimir Stepan, SPD deputy Jiri Kobza, Tricolora Party Chairman Zuzana Majerova, communist presidential candidate Josef Skala, economist and Dean of the Faculty of Economics of Prague University of Economics Miroslav Sevcik also took part in the demonstration.
The demonstrators demanded that the government mitigate the effects of the energy crisis and repair the damage and free domestic industry from its dependence on foreign companies. The demonstration also called for military neutrality and direct contracts with gas suppliers, and especially with Russia, at low prices. The demonstrators shouted anti-EU and anti-NATO slogans and called for the government to resign.
In his speech, Event Organizer Jiri Havel said, “The purpose of our demonstration is that many issues, especially electricity and gas, must be resolved. We invited Prime Minister Petr Fiala to negotiate with us, but unfortunately we did not receive an answer. “We will continue to pressurize. The government should stop bowing to the EU, WHO and NATO and think about the Czech Republic,” he said.
“NOT OUR WAR”
Tricolor Party (Tricolor) Chairman Zuzana Majerova criticized the government’s Ukraine policy in her speech, saying, “Czech needs a Czech government. The Prime Minister may be Ukrainian, maybe from Brussels, but never a Czech. The government should lower VAT and other taxes. Czech businessmen are in trouble. “Russia should abandon its sanctions. The arms supply to Ukraine should be stopped. This is not our war,” he said.
Making statements after the protest, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said, “These are extremist forces. These are pro-Russian people. What they are doing harms the interests of the country and is the organization of forces that want to harm the interests of the country.”
