Marek Stoniš and Thomas Kulidakis discussed in their podcast Pavel's trip to Ankara, the Constitutional Court, the ombudswoman at the Czech Television strike, and tariffs between the EU and the USA.
Marek Stoniš and Thomas Kulidakis
28 June 2026 - 06:03
President Petr Pavel wants to go to the NATO summit in Ankara. The government does not want him there. But he will go anyway! The podcast Řek a Chachar turned this into exactly the kind of political dissection that relies on irony, hyperbole, but also one serious question: why does the president actually want to go there so badly?
Editor-in-chief of Deník TO Marek Stoniš and political commentator Thomas Kulidakis started seemingly lightly. With Kulidakis returning from Greece, the sound issues plaguing previous episodes, smoking at the airport, water at airport prices, and stories of people recognizing them on the street and abroad. But it was precisely from these small situations that they gradually moved to politics. To what people really care about, and what, on the other hand, is inflated to absurd proportions in the Czech public sphere.
"I found out that some are afraid that there will be high prices because someone will decide to wage war somewhere again. Others are bothered that they feel like second-class citizens. But that anyone would be collapsing over whether President Pavel goes to Ankara, that doesn't really trouble people," said Kulidakis.
The president's trip to the NATO summit then became the main topic. Stoniš recalled that Pavel turned to the Constitutional Court over a dispute about competences. According to both podcast authors, it is a situation that contains more political theater than actual statesmanlike content.
Kulidakis did not spare irony. According to him, the president has lost basic self-respect. "If he had basic self-respect, he would get healthily angry and say: Okay, so you don't want to take me to Ankara, then don't take me. And he would come up with his own course of action," he commented on the dispute.
According to him, the Czech system is a parliamentary democracy, not a presidential regime. The president in it should not determine government policy, especially foreign and security policy. The government has won confidence in the Chamber of Deputies and it is the one that bears responsibility for what the Czech Republic will say at the summit.
"The government is accountable to the people through elected representatives. That government won confidence in the elections and that makes it clear," said Kulidakis.
Péťa wants to go on a trip
The sharpest passage came when Kulidakis used a school metaphor. He described the president as "Péťa" who keeps going on trips, but this time the rest of the class doesn't want to take him. Reason? On previous trips, he allegedly spoke differently than the government and sold something the government didn't want to sell.
"Péťa kept going on trips. Argentina, Japan, the Baltics. And now he wants to go with them to Turkey. The rest of the class told him he wouldn't go because last time he badmouthed others or tried to sell something they didn't want to sell," Kulidakis elaborated.
Stoniš added that the opposition repeats the argument that Pavel's non-participation is an international disgrace. According to them, the president has experience from NATO, contacts, and a military background. But according to Stoniš, this argument is flawed.
If Pavel is such an expert on defense, Stoniš asked, why did he not use his experience during Petr Fiala's government? Why did he not point out problems with the F-35 purchase, the defense budget, or meeting the two-percent commitment?
"If he is such an expert on NATO, armaments, and the military, why did he not apply this experience when Petr Fiala was in power?" Stoniš asked.
Kulidakis recalled that Pavel's position as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee was significant, but it was still a role in a bureaucratic and military structure. It does not automatically mean a person understands everything from logistics to strategy to buying aircraft.
"Not every soldier will be an expert on everything. One may be an expert on diving, another a paratrooper, a third a logistician, a fourth an artilleryman," he noted.
Both agreed that the one who can decide should go to the summit. And that is the government. According to them, the president can speak, represent, take photos, and participate in ceremonies, but in Ankara, commitments, money, and political decisions are to be discussed. And those are not in the hands of the Castle.
"Substantively, the one who decides should go. And the one who decides by the will of the voters is the government," summarized Kulidakis.
Ombudswoman, Czech Television, and strike folklore
The second strong thread of the podcast targeted Czech Television and the strike by its employees. Stoniš mentioned the new ombudswoman, who, according to him, sided with the strikers. This disappointed him because he would expect the ombudswoman to also defend the interests of those who disagree with the protest.
"The ombudswoman, who should also defend my interests, does not defend my interests," said Stoniš.
Kulidakis was more cautious. If she was there as a citizen in her free time and at her own expense, that is her right. If she was there during working hours, then it is a question for investigative journalists. And there, both could not resist taking a dig at the media.
"Where are our investigative journalists to ask whether Mrs. Kostolanská has working hours and whether she worked during working hours or wandered around demonstrations?" asked Kulidakis.
The name of union leader Josef Středula also came up, whom Stoniš saw at the protest. Kulidakis noted that for a union leader, going to strikes is part of the job. But Stoniš added that if he were an ordinary employee, he would wonder why the union leader goes to Kavčí Hory but is rarely seen in factories.
"If I were a working intellectual and had such representation as Pepa Středula, I would think to myself: he hasn't been to our factory in a year, but he goes to Kavky," quipped Stoniš.
Europe as the loser
Kulidakis then moved to a topic he called truly serious. He did not consider one politician as the loser of the week, but all citizens of the European Union. The reason, according to him, is the agreement with the United States, in which the EU committed to purchasing energy, weapons, and technology, while Americans are to import to Europe with zero tariffs.
"Congratulations to the United States of America. I am happy for them that they will import to us at zero percent. But I feel very insulted and abandoned that we will be there at fifteen percent," said Kulidakis.
According to him, Europe is again committing to huge payments, while citizens are dealing with high prices, broken roads, and their own cost of living. He criticized that the public debate often revolves around symbolic disputes, while real financial commitments escape attention.
"For three months, everyone has been arguing about whether this or that person will go somewhere, and in the meantime, they have committed our money to enrich another country," said Kulidakis.
Stoniš followed up with a reflection that it would be worth calculating what good membership in the European Union has actually brought the Czech Republic. He admitted that Schengen and free movement are positives, but according to Kulidakis, the question arises whether that balances the huge costs.
"If it costs twenty trillion crowns that you send overseas, I'd rather wait an hour at the border," said Kulidakis.
Britain as a warning
In the conclusion, they also turned to outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Stoniš ranked him among the losers and spoke of Britain as a warning against poor migration policy, lying, and covering up reality.
"What remains behind him is not pretty. It is a warning of where poor migration policy, lying, and covering up reality lead," said Stoniš.
Kulidakis translated his formulation without euphemisms. He recalled gangs committing sexual violence, police fear of accusations of racism, and other cases that, according to him, erode people's trust in the state.
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At the same time, he rejected simplistic generalizations. He recalled that Britain carries part of its current problems from its colonial past. "When you colonize and enslave people somewhere, it can eventually get out of hand. And the descendants of those colonized come to your metropolis," said Kulidakis.
Stoniš pointed out that Britain's problem did not start with Brexit, as is often claimed. According to him, it has deeper historical roots, and Brexit is just a convenient explanation for those who do not want to see the broader context.
Throughout, the podcast moved between political irony and serious remarks about the state, Europe, migration, and freedom. It was not a polished debate. Stoniš and Kulidakis jumped from airport smoking rooms to the Constitutional Court, from Pavel's Ankara to Britain's decline, and from the ombudswoman to tariffs. But that is precisely where their strength lies: politics does not take place in a vacuum, but among people who wait at the airport, stand in traffic, pay taxes, and ask why the travels of the powerful are always discussed when ordinary life is getting more expensive.
(Barták, prvnizpravy.cz, repro: denikTO)
