October 28, 2022
21,260
241
243
2.28%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
0:54Now PlayingMore than 10,000 people filled the Czech capital’s central Wenceslas Square on Friday, with demonstrators calling for the government to resign as consumers face sharply rising prices.
The latest such rally to be held in Prague is intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Petr Fiala to address public concerns over soaring energy costs. The protest underscores an emerging trend of populist political forces across Europe tapping public anger over rising prices compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Waving national flags and banners against the government and the European Union, protesters chanted “resign, resign, resign,” calling for early elections and negotiations with Russia on gas. Police estimated the number of participants in the “lower tens of thousands.”
Dubbed Czech Republic First, the protest was the third of its kind organized by a group calling for the nation’s exit from NATO and renewed ties with Moscow. Nationalist activists have blasted the EU’s sanctions against Moscow as the source of the region’s turmoil -- and called for talks with the Kremlin to secure fresh supplies of cheaper natural gas.
On social media, organizers have attacked the government’s support for some 400,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country and called on authorities to prevent them from permanently settling in the Czech Republic. The Interior Ministry described a similar protest that drew 70,000 in September as promoting “pro-Kremlin propagandist narratives.”
Fiala’s government has been one of the EU’s most ardent backers of Kyiv, supplying it with everything from tanks and ammunition to political support. Initially refusing to offer blanket subsidies, Fiala’s cabinet has responded to growing frustration with price caps on power and natural gas for households and small businesses.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained
Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.
To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.
Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake
Connect with us on…
Breaking News on YouTube
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.