Final Word from Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Cabinet Spokesman Václav Smolka announced on Twitter yesterday that PM Petr Fiala will nominate Acting Dir. Michal Koudelka of BIS counterintelligence to run the agency on a permanent basis. Ex-PM Andrej Babiš said that he has no objection to this. Well, why would he? According to journalist Jaroslav Kmenta, who has written three books about Babiš, absolutely all of the heads of the intelligence agencies and police units will need to be replaced over time if we want to "live without Babiš at our backs." Kmenta told Czech Radio that "every major politician over the last 20 years has tried to control the security units of the state" but that it "never reached the level it did in the case of Andrej Babiš, who has basically turned it into a state within a state." Kmenta specifically named BIS as an agency Babiš has gained significant influence over. Fiala will apparently simply leave such suspicions unanswered, which will raise even more questions about whom Koudelka is serving. [ Czech Republic counter-intelligence director ]