Elections to the European Parliament are not only considered secondary in the Czech Republic, and not so much attention is paid to them. The anti-campaign of the Together coalition, which modified the slogan of the ANO movement, deviated from this. It sparked a debate that overshadowed the start of the opposition campaign. “The ANO campaign, on the other hand, uses rather intense statements about Petar Fial, that he is the Prime Minister of Ukraine. YES shouldn’t be a surprise,” says political scientist Lubomír Kopeček in the Jak to vidí… program on Dvojka.
as he sees it
Prague
1:03 p.m May 6, 2024
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The government of Petr Fiala (ODS) takes office, the cabinet of Andrej Babiš (ANO) leaves Photo: Michaela Danelová/René Volfík | Source: iROZHLAS collage
The campaign of Czech political parties for the European elections is so far standard, assesses political scientist Lubomír Kopeček. “The topic that is seen a lot this year is the Green Deal – what should the future of combustion engines be, that we should be climate neutral… It resonates more than two years ago in the parliamentary elections,” compares the political scientist from Brno’s Masaryk University and National Institute for Research on Socioeconomic Impacts, Diseases and Systemic Risks (SYRI).
Guest: political scientist Lubomír Kopeček. Hosted by Zita Senková
Other topics are currently the migration pact and Russia’s approach to the war in Ukraine.
The ODS counter-campaign caused the biggest stir so far. The party took advantage of the fact that the ANO movement did not register a domain with the password Czechia, everything for you. Instead of the Czech Republic, ODS used Russia in the slogan.
The head of the ODS and Prime Minister Petr Fiala called it an exaggeration. “I would consider it a classic part of a negative campaign,” believes Kopeček and explains: “What is allowed in the field of politics is not allowed in commercial advertising. You cannot compare and denigrate a specific opponent in business advertising. You can do that in politics, it’s been happening for a long time and it’s nothing unusual. It’s an anti-campaign.’
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A negative campaign has been present in the Czech Republic since the 1990s, the political scientist reminds. “So far, it seems that this move by the Spolu coalition has attracted quite a lot of attention, because it overshadowed the fact that ANO was launching its own campaign,” he assesses.
“The YES campaign uses rather intense statements about Petar Fial, that he is the Prime Minister of Ukraine. That the munitions initiative of the Czech government is what gives the merchants of death… I don’t want to say that ANO is partly to blame for this, but it certainly shouldn’t be a surprise,” says Kopeček.
Secondary elections
The political scientist acknowledges that in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in the European Union, the European elections are considered less important. According to him, voters, the media and political parties have little interest in elections. Last year, 28 percent of voters came to vote in the Czech Republic.
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According to him, the reason is that a significant part of Czechs do not consider the Union to be something that they themselves would be a permanent part of.
“An example for everyone is the attitude towards the euro. Although the Czech Republic once committed itself to adopting the common European currency, not many people are passionate about it,” points out Kopeček.
This is also evidenced by which parties are candidates in the elections to the European Parliament.
“A significant number of them are Eurosceptic-oriented, some even took it recessionist and put the diminutive of kitty or the word alien in their name. The European elections thus become not only something very distant, but also a means for expressing protests and recession,” says the political scientist.
A nation of Swedes?
According to Kopeček, there are more reasons why Czechs are so Eurosceptic. “There were moments when the attitude of the Czechs towards the Union was more accommodating. On the other hand, when the eurozone was in crisis around 2009 and 2010, the mood of the Czechs worsened accordingly. Today, I would call it the standard average of skepticism. It is neither significantly more skeptical nor more optimistic,” assesses the political scientist.
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“The attitude of the Czechs towards the Union is a bit Swiss. Sociologist Ladislav Holý also talks about it, for example. History runs around us, we observe it, but we definitely don’t want to participate in it too agile,” concludes the political scientist with exaggeration.
But it also has its exceptions, he adds. “When I look, for example, at how the Czech state is involved in supporting Ukraine, I have the feeling that we are entering great history,” he adds.
Listen to the full interview, the audio is at the top of the article.
Zita Senková, brother
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Tags: Anticampaign allowed common politics assesses political scientist iRADIO
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