Final Word from Tuesday, January 6, 2026
The opposition led by Andrej Babiš won the parliamentary elections in Oct., but the new opposition led nominally by Martin Kupka or Petr Pavel still has the sympathy of the mainstream media, including Czech TV and Czech Radio. Babiš is aware of this and is going out of his way to avoid clashes. This is the opposite of the way the unrelenting Donald Trump acts toward hostile media, even though his MAGA and Babiš's Czech First agendas are in many ways on the same page. It's instead Speaker of the House Tomio Okamura of SPD who is playing the media role of Trump or Vice Pres. JD Vance. The tone and many of the controversial elements in Okamura's New Year's greeting can in fact be traced to Trump or Vance, including the reference to World War III. Okamura is reveling in the outrage he's stirring up, and Babiš is benefiting from it too. With Okamura as the trailblazer, Babiš will be able to gradually turn up his own volume as Czech society gets used to what his coalition is working toward. [ Czech Republic speech address Facebook ODS Pres. Television Czechia WWIII Make America Great Again ANO ]
Glossary of difficult words
trailblazer - a person who is the first to do something; a person who makes a new track through wild country;
unrelenting - not giving way to kindness or compassion;
to revel in - to gain great pleasure from (a situation);
to turn up the volume - to increase the intensity of; to focus on; to highlight or emphasize.