The standoff at the top of Czech politics has sharply escalated after President Petr Pavel published the content of text messages that he says were meant to pressure him—amounting, in his view, to an attempt at “blackmail” over a cabinet appointment. The dispute has put Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and would-be minister Filip Turek at the center of a growing institutional crisis, one that has now spilled onto the streets of Prague.
According to the president, the disclosed messages—intended for his adviser Petr Kolář—were framed in a way that implied consequences if he continued to block Turek’s nomination. Pavel said he treated the texts as an unacceptable attempt to coerce the head of state and announced that he would refer the matter to the relevant authorities.
Macinka rejects the allegations and portrays the episode as an escalation initiated by the president. Speaking on Czech public television, he said he had nothing to apologize for and argued that the most reasonable way to prevent further escalation was to ignore the presidential office. He also claimed that Pavel’s conduct was unconstitutional, calling him, in effect, an “opposition president,” and suggested there was no guarantee the president would represent the government’s foreign policy line abroad.
At the heart of the conflict lies the nomination of Filip Turek, linked to the right-wing, Eurosceptic party Motorists (Zmotoryzowani), which co-governs with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. Pavel has repeatedly refused to appoint Turek—first in the context of the foreign ministry and later as environment minister—pointing to controversies surrounding his public statements and what the president described as a lack of respect for the Czech legal order. Pavel has also argued that Turek made remarks expressing sympathy for Nazi Germany, an issue that has become one of the most explosive aspects of the dispute.
The political storm is also playing out in parliament. In the coming week, the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is set to vote on a motion of no confidence in the government, pushed by opposition parties. Macinka has ruled out resigning, despite calls for his departure, and the governing camp has signaled it will not back down.
Public tension peaked with a large pro-president rally held on Sunday afternoon at Old Town Square and in the lower part of Wenceslas Square. Organizers from the civic initiative A Million Moments for Democracy said 80,000–90,000 people joined the demonstration. Notably, politicians did not take the stage; instead, speakers included representatives of NGOs, actors, academics, and a Catholic priest active in public life. Beyond backing the president in the current standoff, speakers also criticized broader government plans, including proposed changes to the civil service and a move away from the existing licence-fee model for funding public media.
In the background is a deeper clash of direction and legitimacy—who sets the tone at home, and who speaks for the country abroad, including at key international meetings such as NATO summits. The coming weeks will show whether this confrontation ends in a political compromise or hardens into a sustained power struggle between the presidency and the government, fueled both by institutional conflict and by growing mobilization on the streets and online.
