Tens of thousands demonstrate in Prague against Babis' government

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• On Saturday, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Prague against the government of right-wing populist and billionaire Andrej Babis.
• The organizers spoke of up to 250,000 participants.
• The demonstration was directed against the cabinet's authoritarian tendencies and the government's anti-European course.

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Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Prague against the government of right-wing populist and billionaire Andrej Babis. They responded to a call from the "One Million Moments for Democracy" alliance. Its founder Mikulas Minar accused the cabinet of showing authoritarian tendencies and wanting to turn the country to the east.

"The frost comes from the Kremlin and runs down our backs, but we are still warm because we are many," said the 33-year-old Minar. The fact that the government had won the most recent parliamentary election did not give it the right to abuse its power.

Other points of criticism included the recent cuts in defense spending and planned changes to the funding of public media. The organizers spoke of up to 250,000 participants who gathered in a large park on the Letna Plain high above the Vltava River.

The demonstrators held up numerous Czech and Ukrainian flags as well as the European flag. A painted picture depicted US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin kissing in a stylized manner. A large number of police and emergency services were on site. There were traffic obstructions.

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Babis has been in government since mid-December in a coalition with two parties on the right of the political spectrum, the motorists' party Motorists for themselves and the ultra-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD). Just a few weeks ago, the government majority in parliament refused to waive his immunity as a member of parliament.

Concern in Brussels

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The 71-year-old was threatened with a court case for alleged subsidy fraud. His ANO party works together with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz, among others, in the "Patriots for Europe" group in the EU Parliament.