Final Word from Monday, October 30, 2017
Andrej Babiš has a new mantra: "If we live in a rule-of-law state, I am convinced that [the Stork's Nest criminal proceedings] cannot continue." There is no proof of wrongdoing, he told Právo, because there cannot be any. He's convinced that before there's another vote on lifting his immunity, there will be a new situation. Critics of Babiš's use of power will see this as one of two things: Either a threat, or an instruction. If the police or prosecutor halt the proceedings, he will forever be presented by his enemies as someone who proved that we do not in fact "live in a rule-of-law state." Babiš's other option for halting the proceedings is to agree with Pres. Miloš Zeman on so-called abolition (with the PM's co-signature). Babiš told TV Prima yesterday that this would be absurd, because he'd be admitting that he has a problem. But he does have a problem: To get out of this with his skin intact, he really needs Brussels to get behind him and to say that he didn't try to cheat the EU. [Czech Republic European Commission remission abolice pardon parliamentary abuse]
Glossary of difficult words
dependency/dependence - the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else;
mantra - a statement or slogan repeated frequently;
abolition - the halting of criminal proceedings once and for all;
with one's skin intact - without suffering severe, lasting damage.