President delivers Christmas message to the nation

In his traditional Christmas message to the nation President Miloš Zeman praised the country’s economic successes, highlighting its steady economic growth and low unemployment, the lowest in the European Union. He reminded Czechs that they lived in the sixth safest country in the world, and had every reason to be a proud and self-confident nation.

The president defended his decision to appoint to office a minority government led by Andrej Babis despite the fact that the prime minister had failed to secure support for it in the lower house and confirmed his intention to give Andrej Babiš a second chance to form a government. He criticized the other parliamentary parties for alleged lack of initiative in negotiations which would open the way to a compromise solution. Zeman said that under no circumstances would he call early elections.

Miloš Zeman criticized the EU for its policy with respect to migrants and its inability to protect its outer borders and NATO for not being more active in the fight against international terrorism. He said the Czech Republic should be more active in both organizations.

Not for the first time, the president took a swipe at the Czech media, telling Czechs he was confident they would use their common sense and not allow themselves to be manipulated, either by alleged foreign agents or by the Czech press, Czech television and other media.