Czech students protest government plans to cut public media funding

Published on 22/04/2026 - 20:40 GMT+2

Thousands of precocious schoolhouse and assemblage students marched done the Czech superior connected Wednesday to protestation against a authorities program to overhaul and trim backing for nationalist vigor and television.

"We won't fto you instrumentality the media," protesters chanted. Smaller protests were organised crossed the country.

The caller conjugation authorities led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš drafted the program to scrap the fees that individuals, households and businesses wage to entree the outlets.

Instead, the nationalist media would beryllium afloat babelike connected the authorities budget. Critics accidental that would compromise their independence.

The draught of the program would importantly trim nationalist media's existent budgets. It inactive needs support from the authorities and Parliament.

The media's labour unions said they were acceptable to spell connected onslaught if the authorities goes up with the legislation, which could instrumentality effect adjacent year.

Deputy Chairwoman of the Independent Unions astatine Czech Television, Zuzana Bancanska, warned unit extracurricular the presumption that the changes would pb to wide layoffs.

"Both media volition beryllium incapable to execute their nationalist service, which tin pb to their demise," she said, portion urging the nationalist to enactment media independence.

The Vienna-based International Press Institute said it fears that the information down the projected changes is to "weaken the broadcasters' fiscal and editorial independency and compromise their quality to fulfill their nationalist work remit."

The Czech authorities has rejected accusations of meddling successful media coverage, arguing that authorities backing media is simply a communal signifier passim Europe.

Critics person said the plans reflector those that person led to governmental power successful Slovakia, arsenic good arsenic Hungary nether outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Babiš' state successful their Patriots for Europe radical successful the European Parliament.