Final Word from Wednesday, June 1, 2022

The Pirates proposed an Orbán-like tax yesterday on the "huge" profits of coal barons because of the way their businesses are profiting from the war in Ukraine. The money would go toward social programs for low-income and middle-class households hit by higher energy prices and inflation in general. It's actually a twist on a campaign the Pirates launched in mid-2017 before the parliamentary elections. Their famous prison bus had a seat on it for then-PM Bohuslav Sobotka of ČSSD because of his role in the privatization of the OKD coal mines. Later that year the Pirates initiated a parliamentary investigation into the OKD privatization, which produced a lot of news coverage when Zdeněk Bakala declined to testify and then a nice final report, but not much else. Instead of following through on OKD, the Pirates joined the Fiala government and are now giving cover to some of the same people who were involved in the OKD affair. With the Pirates and coal, you never know where it will lead. [ Czech Republic Viktor Hungary ]