Final Word from Wednesday, July 9, 2025
The Czech Republic is in the unusual position of having two defense ministers, both of whom happen to be women. There's the official one, Jana Černochová, who's known for her mad dash army spending on everything from mobile hospitals to supersonic fighters. The other is Eva Decroix, who is officially the justice minister but has turned into the defense attorney of her party in the bitcoin scandal. Both of them are from ODS, which is probably far from a coincidence. The more they close ranks in the face of growing suspicions of corruption and cover-ups, the more it's reminiscent of what we've seen from ODS before. Even the EU Commission mentions the Brno housing case as an example of high-level Czech corruption. The wild card in the case of Černochová and Decroix is Selective State Prosecutor Lenka Bradáčová. She can put her foot down, now that she's gotten what she needs from ODS, and hope that the next government will forgive her for any past politically expedient decisions. [ Czech Republic F-35 Supreme Tomáš Jiřinovský affair Pavel Blažek ]
Glossary of difficult words
mad dash - a wild and uncontrolled rush;
defense attorney - a lawyer representing a defendant in a lawsuit or criminal prosecution;
to close ranks - to unite in order to defend common interests;
wild card - a person or thing whose influence is unpredictable or whose qualities are uncertain;
to put one's foot down - to adopt a firm policy when faced with opposition or disobedience;
expedient - (of an action) convenient and practical although possibly improper or immoral.