Final Word from Monday, September 26, 2022

Czech voters were bombarded on Fri. and Sat. with grim news about the energy crisis. Volks­wagen might have to move Škoda Auto's production because of the cost or availability of natural gas. Other large industrial companies are in critical condition and are starting to talk about it. It's getting so bad that Pres. Miloš Zeman even went against ČEZ and spoke in favor of true price regulation of electricity. MEP Luděk Niedermayer of TOP 09 presented the closure of the Nord Stream 1 and Yamal gas pipelines as a success of the EU, not as a catastrophe. Despite all the bad news, the ruling coalition did rather well in the municipal and Senate elections. Sure, it's partly because the cabinet misled voters about its energy plans, as witnessed by Jozef Síkela's post-election bombshell yesterday. But it's also because Andrej Babiš doesn't present a convincing alternative. Not only because he's Andrej Babiš, but also because his solution to the energy crisis isn't ultimately much different from Petr Fiala's. [ Czech Republic capped prices households partial limited European Union ]