Mixed reactions to Zeman’s Christmas message

The president’s Christmas message evoked mixed reactions on the Czech political scene. While Prime Minister Petr Fiala welcomed the president’s words about the importance of vaccination as the only way out of the crisis, the cabinet is not inclined to support compulsory inoculation. In fact it has said it will scrap compulsory inoculation for people over 60 introduced by the former government.

There was sharp criticism from the governing parties regarding the president’s negative attitude to the Green Deal and the idea that the country should try to back out of shared responsibility for the state of the environment. The Pirate Party and TOP 09 said the president’s words regarding the impact of the Green Deal bordered on scaremongering and some of his statements were factually incorrect. The head of the Pirate Party, Ivan Bartoš, said digitization and environmental reform should be viewed as a challenge, not a threat.