Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Europe

Protest against Czech government's handling of the energy crisis erupt in capital

Supporters of the Czech far-left and far-right united to protest against the government's handling of the energy crisis

Associated Press
Published
close
Fox News Flash top headlines for September 28 Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for September 28

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Thousands of protesters rallied again in the Czech capital on Wednesday to condemn the Czech government’s handling of the energy crisis and its support for Ukraine.

Despite a national holiday, the protest that united the far right with the far left was smaller than the some 70,000 people who gathered for the same reasons at Prague’s central Wenceslas Square on Sept 3.

Waving Czech national flags, the protesters demanded the resignation of the current pro-Western coalition government led by conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

CZECH PROTESTERS DEMAND 'FREEDOM' AS NEW COVID RESTRICTIONS GO INTO EFFECT FOR THE UNVACCINATED

"Resign, resign," they repeatedly chanted during a demonstration held under the slogan "The Czech Republic first," a reference to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s nationalist platform which he called "America first."

Czech protest

People protesting at Vencesla's Square in Prague, Czech Republic, on Sept. 28, 2022, call for the Czech president's resignation amid European energy crisis. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

They criticized the government on a number of issues, including supporting the European Union’s sanctions against Russia, and dismissed as insufficient the government’s help for households and businesses affected by soaring energy prices.

The organizers oppose Czech membership in the European Union and NATO and some other international organizations, such as the United nations and the World Health Organization.

Smaller protests were held in several other major cities.

CZECH REPUBLIC OPENS TENDER FOR NEW NUCLEAR REACTOR

Although the country’s opposition made some gains in the municipal elections last weekend, the five government coalition parties did relatively well in the separate first round of elections for one third of the seats on the Parliament’s upper house, the Senate. The runoffs are planned for the coming weekend.