The March for Life has been banned in the Czech Republic. The point is that several hundred people will march through Prague to express their opposition to abortion, and the vast majority of the public will not even notice. Opinions may differ, but I find these people very sympathetic. One of the reasons is that we don’t see any stubborn moral blackmail on their part. They are kind, smiling people who offer help (but not so much that it becomes overly intrusive), while their opponents are blind, rabid fanatics. Maybe it was different in other times, but in 2025 it’s just the way it is. And any sensible person would have to agree that the pro-life movement poses no danger whatsoever.
They duly announced their annual march this year, the city council gave them the go-ahead, and the state also promised not to allow any other political events in the same places at the same time and to protect the marchers in case of conflict. Then, of course, a state-funded militia (this year called “Feminist Prague”) turned up and prevented the authorised event from taking place. This was done under the benevolent supervision of the police, who blatantly ignored their duty to act. Now there will be some complaints, but they will come to nothing.
- This is typical behaviour for a political regime where
- There are no fixed rules for dealing with the political opposition. Anything can happen and any action is allowed.
There is no boundary between the repressive apparatus of the state and state-funded non-profit organisations.
Such a regime used to be called ‘tyranny’; today we have the more modern term ‘liberal democracy’, but that is a technical detail.
If the state had acted in this way against a march by the populist SPD party or an anti-war demonstration, it would have been normal. But the Movement for Life is politically linked to the ruling People’s Party and has no significant contacts with any opposition party. The ruling parties are using repression directed at the opposition against each other! Will they also start firing each other from their jobs and smashing each other’s office windows?
‘m afraid this perfectly illustrates the current state of governance. Complete confusion. And also the fact that the government is creating and funding groups of fanatics that it cannot control and has to submit to. Perhaps the most significant example of this is Zelensky’s fascist regime, which was originally created to defend American interests and is now damaging the entire Western world.