Final Word from Tuesday, April 22, 2025

STAN Chair Vít Rakušan declared last week that there is only one bezpečnost (safety/security) and that a widening of the pay gap between soldiers on the one hand and the police and firefighters on the other won't amount to anything good. He's under pressure not to allow the army to gain a hiring advantage by getting a bigger salary raise than the police. However, in English and some other languages there is in fact more than one bezpečnost, because the same word isn't used for public safety and national security. By combining the two types of security, Rakušan is making the superficial argument that the potential impact of Russian tanks rolling into Brno or hypersonic missiles hitting Prague is comparable to that of street crime, drug violence and reckless driving. In peacetime this argument can perhaps be made, but it's different when the prime minister has declared that the CR is at war. For election purposes, Rakušan is diluting Petr Fiala's argument that the main threat facing the country is Russia. [ Czech Republic interior min. minister law enforcement ]