Misha Glenny: Babiš will take notice of Orban defeat
UK journalist, author and broadcaster Misha Glenny has deep ties to this part of the world, having spent time in Prague in the 1980s and covered revolutions here and elsewhere in the then Eastern Bloc. On a recent visit to the Czech capital, Glenny discussed the impact of populism on the region – and pressure on Czech and other public broadcasters.
Misha Glenny recently began hosting the long-running BBC radio programme In Our Time. In the past, however, he spent a lot of time in this part of the world, including a period studying Czech at Charles University.
The veteran journalist still follows Central European affairs closely – and on a visit to Prague last week discussed with Petr Dudek of Czech Radio Plus the impact of populism on the region.
“What populist movements are really good at is campaigning, and simplifying complex political issues.
“Once they get into power, they discover that they have a choice. Either they will run the economy badly, which is what they tend to do. Or they will have to interfere with the mechanisms of democracy and institutional accountability. Just in the way that the PIS government did in Poland, with the judiciary, with Polish television and radio, and just as Viktor Orban has done with the civil service, the judiciary, the media to create this autocratic, illiberal democracy which barely deserves the name democracy.”
On Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban’s projected defeat to Peter Magyar in elections next month, Glenny said such an outcome would also resonate in Czechia.
“If Magyar does win, if these are fair elections, this will have a significant impact on the region. Because Orban really was a beacon for populists, including here in the Czech Republic.
“Your prime minister, Mr. Babiš, is I believe more of an opportunist and a pragmatist than an ideologue in the way that Orban has fashioned himself, and [Slovak PM Robert] Fico certainly is.
“And Babiš will take notice of Orban’s defeat, in particular in terms of the relationship between the Czech Republic and the European Union.”
Glenny, who has been based in Vienna in recent years, was also asked about the future of public broadcasters, including in Czechia, where the government plans to end the licence fee system, sparking concerns political pressure could intensify.
“Czech Radio and Czech Television, of all the former communist countries in Central Europe, is by far the best public broadcasting service.
“It is a service which I use as a researcher and a listener and a viewer quite frequently. It would be a grave error, in my opinion, to interfere, to try and dismantle Czech Radio and Czech Television, just as I fear the possibility of the dismantling of the BBC, or ORF in Austria.
“There is of course the famous Joni Mitchell song which has the line, Don’t it always seem to be you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
“And Czech Radio and Czech Television are a jewel in the social and political environment in the Czech Republic in my opinion. And if you get rid of it, it will be sorely, sorely missed and a matter of deep regret.”
Petr Dudek’s entire Czech Radio Plus interview with Misha Glenny can be viewed here:
