Tens of thousands of Czech protesters demand negotiation with Russia over fuel prices

 

Czech protesters in Prague. Reuters. 

Tens of thousands of Czech protesters took to the streets to demand a negotiation with Russia over fuel prices. Reuters. The protesters demanded the resignation of Czechia's center-right government. The protests were made up of both the far-right and the far-left and were made up of anti-NATO and anti-EU groups. They also want Czechia to me a neutral country. The Czech government has been very pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia since the outbreak of the war and has imposed harsh fuel sanctions on Russia. Those sanctions have dramatically increased fuel prices and it is causing people to begin to pressure the government. The protesters want a direct negotiation with Russia over fuel prices, bypassing EU and NATO sanctions. 

My Comment:

I was shocked to see coverage of this event in Western Media. As the article said, this is not the first protest against NATO and the EU and their actions in regards to the Ukraine war. But it is the first one I remember seeing widespread media coverage for. Much like the Dutch Famer Protests, these large protests have been mostly memory-holed. 

I have been thinking for a long time that whatever happens on the battlefield of Ukraine is irrelevant. Why? Because Russia has already won the economic war. The western governments very foolishly sanctioned Russia and it has crippled their economies, at least in Europe. The United States has largely weathered the storm due to our own energy reserves, but even we have started to feel the pinch, with fuel oil being rationed in the Northeast. Russia, meanwhile, is mostly weathering their sanctions and is indeed making money of off the massive increase in oil and gas prices. 

People are getting sick of the costs of the war. Europeans are looking at a long cold winter without much in the way of heat. They are also seeing factories shut down and people losing jobs. And they are seeing very little for their massive efforts. Sure Ukraine has had some minor success on the battlefield, largely because Russia deployed far too few troops, but nothing that justifies the massive expenditure of money that Europe has used. 

It makes a lot of sense for people in Czechia, to be opposed to helping Ukraine. Ukraine is not their ally and they have little strategic interest in providing for their defense. And if the war does escalate into a greater conflict, they could eat a nuke or two, which would obviously be a bad thing. The war is also not helping their economy at all and I think it makes sense that people would be against continuing these sanctions. 

What is surprising is that the far-right and far-left are teaming up there to protest these sanctions. That couldn't happen in the United States. Indeed, after progressives sent a letter asking for diplomacy, they were pretty much forced to withdraw it by the Democrats because being anti-war is now seen as something only the "far right" does. Of course Czechia does not have the same political dynamics as we do here in America so I guess it's possible for the left and right to join up against the center there. 

Will these protests work? I am not sure. Right now I don't know if the normal people are angry enough to join the protesters. It will depend how bad winter gets in Europe this year. If it's a cold winter than people will probably be angry enough to demand change. But if it's a mild one? Who knows? All I know is that it is good to see people speak up against prolonging a war that has very little reason to continue.