Anti-government demo takes place in Prague

Thousands of people gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square for an anti-government protest on Saturday afternoon. As with previous such demonstrations, it was organised by Jindřich Rajchl, head of the PRO (Právo Respekt Odbornost) party, who stated that public dissatisfaction with Petr Fiala's government is enormous. He criticised the government's handling of inflation, tax and pension overhauls, as well as its military spending and aid to Ukraine, saying that the Czech social security and health system was at the point of collapse thanks to "the influx of economic migrants from Ukraine".

The Czech News Agency estimated that there were approximately 10,000 protestors, with about half the square filled. Banners were visible in the crowd with slogans such as "Down with the USA's henchmen" and "No to NATO". Some people were also collecting signatures against the EU ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, which is due to enter into force in 2035.

The demonstration started at 2 p.m. After around two hours of speeches, the protestors left Wenceslas Square to march to the Interior Ministry headquarters in Letná.