Final Word from Tuesday, April 30, 2024

EU Commissioner Věra Jourová told Czech Radio, as we mentioned in the Friday Edition, that that there are a few certainties in these uncertain times and that one of them is that Russia will definitely try to influence the EU elections in June. Yet it seems so far that the bigger actors in this respect are the Czech authorities (and also the Germans), who are taking counteractions that could help to curb any outside influence on the elections. Or is it just a coincidence that the NCOZ crime squad announced yesterday, 38 days before the balloting, that it was closing the Vrbětice case after 10 years of investigation and that there is no doubt that the Russians were behind it? Or that BIS counterintelligence recently uncovered the activities of the Prague-based Voice of Europe and of German MEP Petr Bystroň? Somewhat curious is the realization that these two announcements probably came too soon to have much effect on the EU elections. Unless they were a precursor to another big event in the coming weeks. [ Czech Republic European Union police agency ]