Tens of thousands of people gathered on Prague’s Letna plain on Saturday to protest Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his new coalition government, accusing leaders of an “arrogance of power.” Organizers from the Million Moments for Democracy movement estimated more than 200,000 people attended, though that figure has not been independently verified.
Speakers and placards at the rally accused Babis of steering the country away from democratic norms and closer to the pro-Russia stances seen in Hungary and Slovakia. “We’re here to clearly stand against dragging our country onto the path of Slovakia and Hungary,” said Mikulas Minar, the head organizer of Million Moments for Democracy.
Protesters raised concerns about the independence of public media and state institutions, changes in foreign policy, and draft laws they say could curb civil society. Central among those fears is a proposed foreign agents law that would require non-governmental organizations and individuals involved in broadly defined political activity and receiving foreign funding to register or face heavy fines. “This law can easily be used to restrict personal freedom,” said Vaclav Paces, the former head of the Academy of Sciences.
Babis, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, and his ANO (YES) movement won the October election and formed a majority coalition with two smaller groups: the anti-migrant Freedom and Direct Democracy party and the right-wing Motorists for Themselves. Since taking office, his government has rejected several key EU environmental and migration policies and declined financial aid for Ukraine.
Organizers said Saturday’s demonstration was triggered in part by a recent lower house vote that rejected a motion to lift Babis’s parliamentary immunity in a roughly $2 million EU subsidy fraud case, a decision that prevents a court verdict while his term runs until 2029. Lawmakers also refused to allow the prosecution of lower house Speaker Tomio Okamura, leader of the Freedom party, on charges of inciting hatred.
“The decisions divide the nation into two categories: the ordinary people and the untouchables,” the Million Moments group said. Organizers announced plans for additional protests in the coming weeks.