Czech Republic First!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Dissatisfaction with the government of Peter Fiala
- Energy crisis
- Inflation
- Pro-Russian sentiment
- Government resignation
- Neutral military status
| Czech Republic First! Česká republika na 1. místě! | |||
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| Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine-related protests | |||
| Date | 3 September 2022 | ||
| Location | Wenceslas Square, Prague, Czech Republic | ||
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Czech Republic First! (Czech: Česká republika na 1. místě!)[2] was a mass public demonstration on 3 September 2022 in Wenceslas Square in Prague,[3] expressing dissatisfaction with the government of Petr Fiala and the government's approach to the ongoing energy crisis, inflation, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4] According to police, about 70,000 people took part in the demonstration.[5] A number of politicians and activists participated in the protest or expressed their support for the protesters.[4]
The demonstration was announced on 30 June by Ladislav Vrabel,[2] with an expected attendance of 5,000 people. According to the organizers, the aim of the demonstration was to unify various opposition parties and movements to express strong dissatisfaction with the government of Petr Fiala, which the organisers alleged was responding inadequately to rising energy prices, inflation, and the threat of natural gas shortages. In addition, they accused the government of prioritizing foreign interests over the interests of the Czech Republic and Czech citizens.[4][6] On 23 August the expected participation was increased to 50 to 100 thousand people.[3] In the end, according to the police, about 70,000 people took part in the demonstration.[7]
According to Jindřich Rajchl, the aim of the demonstration was to create sufficient pressure for the resignation of the government, as had recently happened in Bulgaria.[6] After anti-government protests in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, the parliament expressed no confidence in the pro-European government of Kiril Petkov, and the interim official government of Galab Donev began to negotiate with Gazprom on the restoration of natural gas supplies.[8][9] The co-organizer of the event, Jiří Havel, said the goal of the protest was "the necessity of change, mainly in solving the issues of energy prices, especially electricity and gas, which will cause the destruction of our economy by this autumn."[10]
