Final Word from Tuesday, August 10, 2021
No politician wants to be flagged by the CIA for special attention, unless standing up to what Donald Trump and others refer to as the Deep State is part of a politician's agenda or image. Ever since Dir. Michal Koudelka of the BIS counterintelligence agency made it clear that his main bosses are in Langley, Czech politicians have trodden with great care within the minefield he laid around himself. ČSSD Chair Jan Hamáček might think that Koudelka leaked information to the media about his planned trip to Moscow, as ex-Green Chair Matěj Stropnický suggested, but Hamáček is not going to act openly on this. PM Andrej Babiš seemed to be on the verge of sidelining Koudelka for his relationships with certain media. He declared on Czech TV on Sun. that "it is nonsense to say that our [counterintelligence] service operates on the basis of one person" and that "our orientation is clear - we're in Nato, we're in the EU." With that, Babiš apparently stepped on one of those landmines. An answer to the question of whether Koudelka can serve two governments that have different national interests has thus been delayed for a few months. [ Czech Republic Television Virginia VA headquarters Russia ]
Glossary of difficult words
to get to someone - to contact or confront someone, typically someone inaccessible, in order to influence him or her through bribery or threats;
to flag - to mark for attention or treatment in a specified way;
to tread (trod, trodden) - to walk in a specified way;
to sideline - to remove from the center of attention or activity.