Final Word from Thursday, September 11, 2025

Pres. Petr Pavel declared in a tweet yesterday that the Russian drones shot down over Polish territory early Wed. clearly confirm how much the mounting Russian aggression affects us. "The Czech Republic, our neighbors and Europe are not safe," he said. After meetings at the Castle in mid-May with party heads, Pavel had said that the security situation is perhaps the worst since the CR has been an independent country but that the security issue shouldn't be used in the election campaign to divide society. PM Petr Fiala seems to have taken this at least somewhat to heart. Yesterday's drone attack was in a sense just the kind of black swan event that could give his government a boost in the final weeks until the elections on Oct. 3-4, yet Fiala was rather restrained in his response. He of course condemned the violation of Polish airspace and the Russian provocation, but he didn't try to make an overly big deal out of it. He quickly moved on to other mundane issues, such as how to pay for the salaries of non-teaching staff at schools. It was a sign that Fiala doesn't want to be seen in the final days of the election campaign as the war prime minister. [ Czech Republic attack X ]