Recalling the struggle against absurd migration quotas, Zeman said the Visegrad Group had achieved the impossible. “In the the beginning, it seemed that migration quotas would be mandatory. Now, this nonsense is not even discussed,“ the president said.
Zeman also expressed appreciation for Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), Social Democrat (CSSD) leader Jan Hamáček and Communist (KSCM) leader Vojtěch Filip for forming and supporting the cabinet.
The autumn demonstrations at which people demanded the resignation of the government and especially of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš amount to a rejection of the will of the citizens expressed through free elections, he said. According to the Czech President, a citizen in a democratic society respects the results of free elections, even if he does not like it.
In an additional interview for ParliamentniListy.cz, Zeman praised the economic performance of the Czech Republic. On the other hand, mentioning the emerging trade and tariff wars between the United States and China, Great Britain’s departure from the EU and a labor shortage as possible reasons behind what he warned could be an emerging slowdown in the economy.
Zeman also reiterated his criticism of the country’s intelligence service, BIS, for its warning regarding heightened activities of Russian and Chinese agents on Czech territory. The president described it as unjustified “spy mania“ and said that it provokes irrational thinking among Czechs, making them seem easily manipulated.
According to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, President Miloš Zeman’s Christmas speech avoided confrontation and remained objective. Critics claimed the speech offered nothing new, simply repeating the president’s well-known views.
