President Paul released the news from Minister Macinka. He considers them an attempt at blackmail

On 27 January 2026, the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, spoke at an extraordinary press briefing at Prague Castle, where he reported on his communication with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Petr Macinka (Motorists for Himself). The President said that Macinka had been trying to influence him for a long time on the appointment of a proposed member of the government, both through direct communication and through his associates and advisors.

According to Paul, he initially judged these efforts leniently. However, the situation changed after the minister delivered two text messages to him in the late hours of the night via presidential advisor Petr Kolář. The president described their content as extremely serious and said he considered them an attempt at blackmail. He therefore decided to publish the messages in full and to file a complaint with the security services. At the same time, he announced that he would refer them to lawyers to assess whether they constituted the offence of extortion.

Macinka denied that he considered his statements in text messages to presidential adviser Petr Kolář to be blackmail of the President of the Republic. At the press conference, he said that trying to influence the position of the opposing party is a normal part of political negotiations. He stressed that in his opinion, President Petr Pavel was moving outside the constitutional framework by not appointing MP and honorary president of the Motorists, Filip Turk, as environment minister, and it is for this reason that he considers his actions justified.

In published reports, Minister Macinka writes that he „faces an irreversible decision on how to proceed with the President“. He further states that the President can „get peace of mind“ if MP Filip Turek is appointed Minister of Environment. „But if not, I will burn bridges in a way that will go down in political science textbooks as an extreme case of cohabitation,“ reads one of the reports. The minister also claims that he has the support of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) and the SPD movement.

In another part of the communication, Macinka writes that „politics is about compromises if you want to have an influence on something“, adding that „either everything will be possible or nothing will be possible“. According to him, the president „only needs one signature“. The minister also said he needed to know the president's decision by Wednesday, when he is due to leave for Brussels for talks with foreign partners and the media.

At the press conference, President Pavel said that if Macinka had indeed acted with the support of the Prime Minister, it would, in his view, be an illustration of the new government's approach to power-sharing in the constitutional system and the fact that fundamental issues of foreign and security policy had become the subject of personal disputes. However, if he does not have the support of the Prime Minister, the President considers the negotiations to be an arbitrary and irresponsible action by the Motorists for Ourselves party. He also expressed his conviction that Prime Minister Andrej Babiš does not support Macinka's action.

Prime Minister Babiš subsequently said he considers the minister's words unfortunate, but he does not consider them blackmail and described them as private communications with an advisor to the President. SPD chair Tomio Okamura described the style of the messages as common in political conflict. President Pavel reiterated that he would be guided by the Constitution and the interests of the Czech Republic and that his decision-making would not be influenced by any intimidation.

Macinka added that he intends to inform NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte of his position during a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. According to him, President Pavel should not lead the Czech delegation at the summer NATO summit in Turkey unless he changes his approach to the appointment of the government. The minister also confirmed that he was aware of the possibility of his communication being made public by the Castle, adding that he had no plans to file a competence lawsuit with the Constitutional Court. He also said that he did not consider the opposition's calls for his resignation to be relevant and that he considered that relations within the governing coalition remained good.

gnews.cz - GH