Final Word from Monday, November 19, 2018

Three days after U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry stood next to PM Andrej Babiš and spoke about the fruitful and productive dialogue they had had and the commitment of the Trump administration to strengthening the relationship, the U.S. embassy co-sponsored an event at which speakers called for Babiš to resign. The organizer of the Concert for the Future, Nerudný fest.cz, had said the event wouldn't be a protest and probably meant it, but Mikuláš Kroupa, Mikuláš Minář and others turned it into one. Sponsorship by the U.S. embassy served to fuel speculation that last week's events were related to Dukovany or other pressing geopolitical issues. It seems unlikely, though, that the Americans would knowingly take such a risk, given how much a failed putsch could cost them. The embassy is no doubt guilty of bad judgment in supporting the Obama-era color-revolution projects of certain Czech NGOs, but probably not of wanting to overthrow the Babiš government. [ Czech Republic Nov. 17 revolution oust remove United States of America ]